People Before Profit blog

Arabs in Israel stage general strike over home demolitions

Mon, 04 May 2015 13:16:00 +0000

Thousands of Palestinian-Arabs, citizens of Israel, gathered in Tel-Aviv's Rabin Square on Tuesday evening, April 28, to protest against the government's policy of demolishing homes and other buildings in Arab towns, capping a day in which Arab shops, schools, and businesses observed a general strike.

MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), head of the Joint List, said that this is one of the most crucial issues confronting the Arab public in Israel. "A family which loses its home, built on its own private land, is shattered," Odeh said. He accused the government of not responding to initiatives taken by heads of Arab local councils, who have been trying to resolve the issue of master plans for many years.

"Holding a protest in Tel-Aviv is a call to the Jewish public to stand together with the Arab community against the destructive and inciting policies of the Netanyahu government, which is trying to foment a confrontation," the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which organized the rally, said in a statement. "The committee emphasizes that the right to a roof over one's head is an elementary right of every citizen, which must be respected and met by the state and its institutions." The committee maintains that the dire housing situation in the Arab sector is due to housing shortages, the confiscation of land, and the non-approval of master plans or plans to expand areas of jurisdiction.

The rally was attended by representatives of all the constituent parts of the Monitoring Committee, Knesset members from the Joint List in the Knesset, which includes Hadash and the Arab parties Balad and Ta'al. Local council heads, social activists and popular committees, and Jewish and Arab intellectuals also participated. Among them were hundreds of Hadash and Communist Party of Israel activists.

In an effort to mobilize more participants, rally organizers declared a general strike in all Arab communities, including the shutting of schools. The response to the call for Tuesday's strike was considered by organizers as being relatively good in contrast to previous such calls issued by the committee. The location of the rally, in the heart of Tel-Aviv, reflected a new approach by the political leaders of Israel's Arabs population: If the majority of Israelis ignores the minority and refuses to listen to it, then the minority must come to them.

The crowds also called for recognizing unauthorized communities in the Negev that are predominately populated by Bedouin and which have been a focus of friction with authorities. The committee said that the general strike was called to "raise the cry of the Arab citizens who are suffering from a severe housing crisis, from house demolitions, from land seizures, an absence of jurisdiction expansion, and from the non-approval of master plans." According to the follow-up committee, presently there are some 50,000 Arab homes facing demolition in Israel. "The government is waging a war on Arabs," Jeryes Matar, the follow-up committee's secretary general said at the demonstration. "The battle to save these houses is the battle to save our existence."

Although Arab Israelis make up around 17 percent of the population, only 4.6 percent of new homes are built in Arab areas, figures provided by Arab rights group Adalah show.

In a February report, Adalah blamed the housing crisis on a "deliberate, consistent, and systematic government policy" that gives preference to development in Jewish areas over Arab ones. In 2014, the Israel Land Authority published tenders for construction of 38,261 housing units in Jewish communities compared with only 1,844 in Arab communities, the report said.

Dr. Yousef Jabareen, a Knesset member from Hadash in the Joint List, said the decision to strike was taken after the second recent home demolition in Dahmash. "We want to tell the new government that we demand our basic rights for housing," Jabareen told Al-Jazeera, "and we want our voice to be heard in the Jewish community."

Most Arab-Palestinians in Israel are likely to have shut down their shops and abstained from going to work, and schools were closed for the day, Jabareen said before the demonstration in Tel-Aviv. "We want the government to find a substantial resolution for this issue by broadening the jurisdiction of Arab localities and providing housing options that meet the needs of the Arab communities, especially of young people," he said.

"It looks like the right-wing coalition will be formed soon," he added. "The strike is a message to the government: We will not accept being treated as second- or third-class citizens. The new [government] coalition will be a big challenge: we expect to confront more racist legislation and the continuation of incitement against our community."

This article was originally posted by the Communist Party of Israel.

Photo: Communist Party of Israel

Today in history: The Vietnam War is over!

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 13:19:00 +0000

Today is the 40th anniversary of the official end of the Vietnam War. The final push into Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on the part of the Vietnamese People's Army took place on this date in 1975. Thousands of remaining U.S. military and members of the diplomatic corps, along with some of their South Vietnamese collaborators, were airlifted from rooftops out of the city. The American War, as the Vietnamese referred to it, had dragged on for more than ten years, following the Vietnamese defeat of the French colonialists in 1954.

The 30-4 Park in Ho Chi Minh City, referencing this date of liberation, is a popular gathering place today. May 1, aside from the universal May Day celebration of labor, is commemorated as Reunification of Vietnam Day.

Some scholars estimate that as many as 3.8 million Vietnamese died during the war. Up to 800,000 perished in Cambodia and another one million in Laos, neighboring countries into which the U.S. expanded the war. The U.S. death toll was 58,000, about half of them people of color. It was a racist war both home and abroad. More than 100,000 Vietnam veterans have committed suicide since returning to the U.S.

Vietnamese people and U.S. veterans continue to be affected by the tons of chemicals, especially Agent Orange and napalm, that were indiscriminately dumped on that country and are still causing birth defects in children born decades after the war ended. Adding in the unexploded ordnance that still claims limbs and lives, after half a century it can well be said the war is not completely over, nor has the environment recovered.

The legacy of the Vietnam War is contested ground 40 years on. Textbooks and popular culture rarely reflect upon this major loss for the U.S. military. Although many ordinary Americans would now agree that this was an unwinnable war not worth fighting, politicians and policy makers do not necessarily agree, and their voices are loud. Their argument is that America was too weak, withheld its power, did not do enough to suppress internal dissent, and could have won the war if not for betrayal by the liberals. This serious misreading of history has led to further unsuccessful adventures, for example in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Visitors to Vietnam today are often drawn to various monuments and memorials around the country that commemorate the war and the terrible toll it took on the country. In Ho Chi Minh City they include Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum, among others.

Today Vietnam enjoys a renewed relationship with the U.S.

Kenya’s sorrow: the U.S. connection

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:59:00 +0000

The systematic murder of 147 Kenyan university students by members of the Somalia-based Shabab organization on April 2 is raising an uncomfortable question: Was the massacre an unintentional blowback from U.S. anti-terrorism strategy in the region? And were the killers forged by an ill-advised American-supported Ethiopian invasion that transformed the radical Islamic organization from a marginal player into a major force?

As Kenyans were mourning their dead, opposition figures were openly opposing Kenya's occupation of southern Somalia and bringing into question Washington's blueprint for fighting terrorism: drones, Special Forces, and regional proxies.

Speaking in the port of Mombasa (Kenya's second largest city), former prime minister and opposition leader Raila Odinga called for the withdrawal of Kenyan troops, as did the speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi. Speaking at the funeral for one of the victims, Senator James Orengo said, "We know very well the consequences of a war of occupation. We must withdraw our troops from Somalia to end this."

Absent from most of the mainstream American media was an examination of exactly what role the U.S. has played in Somalia over the past decade, and how Washington has helped create the current crisis.

A little history

When military dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991, Somalia fell into the chaos of clan warfare, sparking off a U.S. military intervention in 1992. While billed as a "humanitarian intervention," the Americans aggressively sought to suppress the plague of warlords that had turned the nation's capital, Mogadishu, into a shattered ruin. But the expedition derailed in 1993 after 18 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Somalis were killed in the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident. The U.S. withdrew the following year.

Which doesn't mean the U.S. went away, or that it didn't apply a new strategy for Africa, one designed by the right-wing Heritage Foundation. The genesis of that plan came from James Carafano, a West Point graduate and head of Heritage's foreign policy section, and Nile Gardiner, director of the think tank's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, who drew up a document entitled "U.S. Military Assistance for Africa: A Better Solution."

The strategy called for the creation of a U.S. military command for Africa, a focus on terrorism, and direct military intervention using air power and naval forces. The authors argue against putting U.S. troops on the ground, instead enlisting those of allies. Those recommendations were adopted by the Bush administration - and later the Obama administration - lock, stock and barrel. African Command (Africom) was created, along with the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative, to train troops in 16 nations that border the vast area embraced by the world's biggest desert.

While targeting "terrorism" is the strategy's public face, Carafano and Gardiner argue that U.S. "vital interests" are involved on the continent. "With its vast natural and mineral resources," Africa, say the two scholars, "remains important to the West, as it has been for hundreds of years, and its geostrategic significance is likely to rise in the 21st century."

A major rationale behind the strategy is to checkmate Chinese influence in Africa and short-circuit Beijing's search for raw materials. China gets about one-third of its oil from Africa, plus platinum, copper, timber and iron ore.

Somalia and the Shabab

The new policy made its début in Somalia when the U.S. actively aided Ethiopia's 2006 invasion to support the unpopular and isolated Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFGS). The invasion overthrew the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which had brought Somalia its first stable government in 15 years.

The ICU was a coalition of Islamic organizations that included a small group calling itself the "Shabab," Arabic for "Youth." While the ICU was Islamic in ideology, it was more moderate than the Shabab. The ICU also had more support than the TFGS, because it had routed the clan warlords who had dominated Somalia since 1991.

However, those warlords - united in an organization incongruously called the "Alliance for Restoration of Peace and Counter-terrorism" - were strongly supported by the U.S. CIA. Claiming that the ICU was linked to al-Qaeda, Washington leaned on Ethiopia to invade. When they did, U.S. Special Forces based in Djibouti accompanied them and gave them intelligence and equipment. The U.S. Navy shelled a town in Southern Somalia, killing, according to Oxfam and the United Nations, 70 civilians and wounding more than 100. While the New York Times claims that U.S. support for the invasion was "covert," it was anything but.

The powerful Ethiopian Army crushed the ICU, but the brutality of the occupation that followed fired up a resistance movement led by the Shabab. Given that Ethiopians and Somalians are traditional enemies, and that the former is largely Christian, the latter overwhelmingly Muslim, one wonders what Washington was thinking when it backed the invasion.

It was the 2006 Ethiopian-U.S. invasion that turned the Shabab into a major player, just as the invasion of Iraq fueled the creation of, first, al-Qaeda and then the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.

The Shabab quickly took over most of southern and central Somalia, although their brutality and strict interpretation of Islam eventually alienated them from much of the population. However, the one thing that Somalians could unite around was expelling the Ethiopians, and after two years of ambushes, roadside bombs and suicide vests, Addis Ababa withdrew most of its forces.

At the time, the Shabab was not affiliated with al-Qaeda - it did not do so until 2012 - and its concerns were mainly local. The organization was more like the Taliban in Afghanistan, albeit with a more extreme interpretation of Islam. But that distinction was lost on Washington, which pressed the African Union (AU) to send in troops. In 2007, the AU, with UN compliance, established the African Union Mission in Somalia (AUMIS) and deployed 9,000 troops to support the TFGS.

It is no coincidence that the bulk of AUMIS troops are from Uganda and Burundi, two countries that receive U.S. aid, as does Ethiopia. From 2009, U.S. military aid to Addis Ababa jumped 256 percent.

The U.S. also footed the bill for private mercenary organizations, like Bancroft Global Development, to train Ugandan and Burundian troops in counter-insurgency warfare. The fact that Bancroft is a private company shields it from public scrutiny, including by the U.S. Congress.

While the initial AUMIS deployment was not very successful, it finally drove the Shabab out of the nation's capital, Mogadishu, although that was, in part, a reflection of the Shabab's loss of support among Somalians, alienated by the group's brutality. Eventually the organization was driven out of all Somalia's major cities. But even with numerous setbacks, a recent attack in the capital that killed 15 people and wounded 20 demonstrates the Shabab still has a bite.

Now Kenya

Kenya - another recipient of U.S. aid whose soldiers are trained by U.S. Special Forces - invaded southern Somalia in 2011 and seized the Shabab-controlled port of Kismayo. While publicly the reason for the invasion was Shabab kidnappings of Kenyans and tourists, apparently Nairobi has long had its eye on the port of Lamu as part of a development plan for the northeast part of the country.

Again, the Shabab was scattered rather easily, but only then to resort to guerilla war and attacks on civilian targets in Kenya and Uganda. In 2011, it set off two bombs in Kampala, Uganda, that killed 76 people. In 2013, it killed 67 people in a shopping mall in Nairobi and then topped that with the latest massacre at Garissa University on April 2.

The response of the Kenyan government has been targeting ethnic Somalians living on the Kenyan side of the border with Somalia, threatening to close down one of the largest refugee camps in the world, and squeezing the country's Muslims. Those are actions liable to alienate Kenya's large ethnic Somali population and its minority Muslim communities. "Shabab needs to create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion to gain a foothold," security analyst Mohamed Mubarak told the Financial Times. "And they may succeed if the Kenyan response is not thought out carefully."

The blowback attacks have soured most Kenyans on the invasion. A poll taken last fall, six months before the Garissa University bloodbath, found that a majority of the country wants its troops out of Somalia, and two in three Kenyans thought there would be more terrorist attacks.

What seems clear is that the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for using military force in Africa has been a disaster. It has destabilized Somalia by overthrowing the ICU, spreading the war to Uganda and Kenya. It turned Libya into a failed state, which in turn unleashed a flood of arms that have helped fuel civil wars in Mali, Niger and the Central African Republic.

The widespread use of drones may kill some terrorist leaders, along with large numbers of civilians, and, rather than destroying organizations like sl-Qaeda and the Shabab, it ends up atomizing them into groups that are smaller and harder to track, but no less capable of committing mass murder. Indeed, for organizations like the Shabab and al-Qaeda, drones have proved to be the 21st century's most effective recruiting sergeants.

Military occupation sows the seeds of its own destruction, and, while using drones and proxies may keep the American death count down, that strategy ultimately creates more enemies than it eliminates.

The solution in Somalia (and Syria and Yemen) is political, not military. According to Bronwyn Bruton of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Shabab is "not a monolithic movement," but includes leaders from the old Islamic Courts Union that the U.S. and it allies so disastrously overthrew. "Some of these leaders are extremists, and the idea of talking with them is unappetizing. But the United States can and should negotiate with them directly."

In short, talking beats bombing and works better.

This article originally appeared at Conn Hallinan's blog Dispatches from the Edge.

Photo: Relatives hold photographs of student Selpha Aoko Wanda, 21, who was killed in the April 2 attack on Garissa University College in Nairobi, Kenya. At right is Selpha's mother Rosina Nafuna Wanda. AP/Ben Curtis

Today in history: U.S. invasion of Dominican Republic teaches lessons today

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 11:17:00 +0000

Fifty years ago, on April 28, 1965, U.S. armed forces landed in the Dominican Republic. Within weeks, more than 20,000 U.S. troops were fighting in support of a military regime, against the forces of the constitutionally elected government. Despite popular support, the constitutionalist forces could not hold out against the power of the U.S. military.

The U.S. invasion was justified as protecting American lives. Within days, this was changed to preventing a Communist takeover. Similar excuses had been given 49 years earlier, when U.S. troops had occupied the Dominican Republic. In each case, the real reasons could be found in the profits of the Wall Street banks and the U.S. sugar and mining interests.

The history of U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic, and the stakes involved in the 1965 invasion, can be found in this account, published shortly after the invasion while the fighting was still in progress.

The U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic was soon overshadowed by the far larger and longer war in Vietnam. But its history is worth revisiting, and not just for the historical significance of a 50 year anniversary.

Today, domination by multinational corporations and Wall Street banks is more likely to be imposed by bankers with briefcases, rather than marines with weapons. Low-wage factories in "special economic zones" have joined sugar plantations and bauxite mines as a source of corporate profits. Free trade" agreements have become a primary tool in guaranteeing that governments throughout the world (including our own) enforce rules created in secret by corporate lawyers in their own interests. (Military action, however, is always held as an option).

The latest example is the administration's move to impose sanctions on Venezuela, because that country poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." So absurd was the claim, and so unanimous the objections of Latin America's countries, that President Obama admitted there is no threat - but is keeping the sanctions in place. The excuse now is that Venezuelan officials are guilty of corruption and human rights violations.

It seems a contradiction, after the incidents of police murder and torture in the past year alone, for the government of the U.S. to "sanction" another country for human rights violations. It seems a contradiction to single out Venezuela when several U.S. allies, including Colombia and Honduras, have received police and military aid, not sanctions, despite the worst human rights records in the region.

But U.S. policy is not contradictory. It is consistent. Just as U.S. corporate interests were behind the invasion of the Dominican Republic 50 years ago, the collective interests of corporate America explain our country's policies in Latin America. What is the real complaint against Venezuela? Emile Schepers explains:

In the case of Venezuela, the two socialist-led governments of Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and Nicolas Maduro (2013 to present) have done much to improve the living standards of their people, greatly increasing the school achievement levels and drastically reducing poverty levels. Chavez built alliances with other Latin American and Caribbean states which have killed off the United States' former pet project, the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Instead, through mechanisms such as UNASUR, MERCOSUR, ALBA AND CELAC, Venezuela and its allies have managed to sharply increase mutual cooperation and horizontal integration of their economies, as well as increasing trade with China and other countries outside the region.

This is a potential problem for the imposition of the Transpacific Trade Partnership (TPP) which the U.S. administration and ruling class are pushing in Congress.

Craig Gauthier, an American soldier who participated in the 1965 invasion reflected, "It opened up so many questions for me that it made me feel we had to do something here about our situation as African Americans... It seems as though the Dominican people... were set up as a place... [with] low wages and benefits and use those people as leverage" against workers in the U.S. Indeed, some 41 years later, the factory where Gauthier had worked and been union president closed, a victim of "free trade" agreements and low wages in other countries.

Growing numbers of American workers, especially union members, are coming to realize the threat that trade agreements are against their interests. Countries like Venezuela are a major obstacle to agreements like the TPP, negotiated in secret by corporate lawyers. Just as the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965 added one more weapon to the corporate offensive against the working class in the U.S., the present campaign against the Venezuelan government is also aimed at U.S. workers and their unions.

Anyone in the U.S. who stands in solidarity with working people around the world should oppose U.S. actions against Venezuela. Anyone in the U.S. who sees the danger of TTP and other trade agreements should oppose U.S. actions against Venezuela. That is the lesson repeated many times in our history, not least 50 years ago in the Dominican Republic.

Photo: 1965 protest against the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic. | Bronx Documentary Center

Nepal calls for help after nation-devastating quake

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 10:47:00 +0000

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Shelter, fuel, food, medicine, power, news, workers - Nepal's earthquake-struck capital was short on everything Monday as its people searched for lost loved ones, sorted through rubble for their belongings and struggled to provide for their families' needs. In much of the countryside, it was worse, though how much worse was only beginning to become apparent.

The death toll soared past 3,700, even without a full accounting from vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach two days after the disaster.

Udav Prashad Timalsina, the top official for the Gorkha district, where Saturday's magnitude 7.8 quake was centered, said he was in desperate need of help.

"There are people who are not getting food and shelter. I've had reports of villages where 70 percent of the houses have been destroyed," he said.

Aid group World Vision said its staff members were able to reach Gorkha, but gathering information from the villages remained a challenge. Even when roads are clear, the group said, some remote areas can be three days' walk from Gorkha's main disaster center.

Some roads and trails have been blocked by landslides, the group said in an email to The Associated Press. "In those villages that have been reached, the immediate needs are great including the need for search and rescue, food items, blankets and tarps, and medical treatment."

Timalsina said 223 people had been confirmed dead in Gorkha district but he presumed "the number would go up because there are thousands who are injured." He said his district had not received enough help from the central government, but Jagdish Pokhrel, the clearly exhausted army spokesman, said nearly the entire 100,000-soldier army was involved in rescue operations.

"We have 90 percent of the army out there working on search and rescue," he said. "We are focusing our efforts on that, on saving lives."

Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake spread horror from Kathmandu to small villages and to the slopes of Mount Everest, triggering an avalanche that buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers preparing to make their summit attempts.

Aid is coming from more than a dozen countries and many charities, but Lila Mani Poudyal, the government's chief secretary and the rescue coordinator, said Nepal needed more.

He said the recovery was also being slowed because many workers - water tanker drivers, electricity company employees and laborers needed to clear debris - "are all gone to their families and staying with them, refusing to work."

"We are appealing for tents, dry goods, blankets, mattresses, and 80 different medicines that the health department is seeking that we desperately need now," Poudyal told reporters. "We don't have the helicopters that we need or the expertise to rescue the people trapped."

As people are pulled from the wreckage, he noted, even more help is needed.

"Now we especially need orthopedic (doctors), nerve specialists, anaesthetists, surgeons and paramedics," he said. "We are appealing to foreign governments to send these specialized and smart teams."

More than 6,300 people were injured in the quake, he said, estimating that tens of thousands of people had been left homeless. "We have been under severe stress and pressure, and have not been able to reach the people who need help on time," he said.

The arrival of relief flights has caused major backups at Kathmandu's small airport.

Four Indian air force aircraft carrying aid supplies and rescue personnel were forced to return to New Delhi on Monday because of airport congestion, Indian defense ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said. India planned to resend the planes later Monday night when the situation was expected to have eased.

Nepal police said in a statement that the country's death toll had risen to 3,617 people. That does not include the 18 people killed in the avalanche, which were counted by the mountaineering association. Another 61 people were killed in neighboring India, and China reported 20 people dead in Tibet.

Well over 1,000 of the victims were in Kathmandu, the capital, where an eerie calm prevailed Monday.

Tens of thousands of families slept outdoors for a second night, fearful of aftershocks that have not ceased. Camped in parks, open squares and a golf course, they cuddled children or pets against chilly Himalayan nighttime temperatures.

They woke to the sound of dogs yelping and jackhammers. As the dawn light crawled across toppled building sites, volunteers and rescue workers carefully shifted broken concrete slabs and crumbled bricks mixed together with humble household items: pots and pans; a purple notebook decorated with butterflies; a framed poster of a bodybuilder; so many shoes.

"It's overwhelming. It's too much to think about," said 55-year-old Bijay Nakarmi, mourning his parents, whose bodies recovered from the rubble of what once was a three-story building.

He could tell how they died from their injuries. His mother was electrocuted by a live wire on the roof top. His father was cut down by falling beams on the staircase.

He had last seen them a few days earlier - on Nepal's Mothers' Day - for a cheerful family meal.

"I have their bodies by the river. They are resting until relatives can come to the funeral," Nakarmi said as workers continued searching for another five people buried underneath the wreckage.

Kathmandu district chief administrator Ek Narayan Aryal said tents and water were being handed out Monday at 10 locations in Kathmandu, but that aftershocks were leaving everyone jittery. The largest, on Sunday, was magnitude 6.7.

"There have been nearly 100 earthquakes and aftershocks, which is making rescue work difficult. Even the rescuers are scared and running because of them," he said.

"We don't feel safe at all. There have been so many aftershocks. It doesn't stop," said Rajendra Dhungana, 34, who spent Sunday with his niece's family for her cremation at the Pashuputi Nath Temple.

Acrid, white smoke rose above the Hindu temple, Nepal's most revered. "I've watched hundreds of bodies burn," Dhungana said.

The capital city is largely a collection of small, poorly constructed brick apartment buildings. The earthquake destroyed swaths of the oldest neighborhoods, but many were surprised by how few modern structures collapsed in the quake.

On Monday morning, some pharmacies and shops for basic provisions opened while bakeries began offering fresh bread. Huge lines of people desperate to secure fuel lined up outside gasoline pumps, though prices were the same as they were before the earthquake struck.

With power lines down, spotty phone connections and almost no Internet connectivity, residents were particularly anxious to buy morning newspapers.

Pierre-Anne Dube, a 31-year-old from Canada, has been sleeping on the sidewalk outside a hotel. She said she's gone from the best experience of her life, a trek to Everest base camp, to the worst, enduring the earthquake and its aftermath.

"We can't reach the embassy. We want to leave. We are scared. There is no food. We haven't eaten a meal since the earthquake and we don't have any news about what's going on," she said.

The earthquake was the worst to hit the South Asian nation in more than 80 years. It and was strong enough to be felt all across parts of India, Bangladesh, China's region of Tibet and Pakistan. Nepal's worst recorded earthquake in 1934 measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.

The quake has put a huge strain on the resources of this impoverished country best known for Everest, the highest mountain in the world. The economy of Nepal, a nation of 27.8 million people, relies heavily on tourism - principally, trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.

Muneeza Naqvi, Tim Sullivan, and Ashok Sharma contributed to this story.

Photo: Volunteers carry a victim from a building that collapsed during the Nepal earthquake. | AP

Chicago artist creates “Guernica”-sized painting to mark Armenian genocide

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:15:00 +0000

CHICAGO - To mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide and the death and displacement of millions of Armenians, a descendant of the survivors has created an enormous work of art to both honor the victims and survivors and to celebrate the enduring strength and culture of the Armenian people.

Chicago artist Jackie Kazarian has titled the piece Armenia (pronounced "Hayasdan" in Armenian). It is the exact same dimensions (11.5 X 26 feet) as Pablo Picasso's famous painting Guernica, an anguished response to Francisco Franco's aerial bombing of defenseless civilians in Spain.

"People know what happened in Guernica because of that painting," Kazarian said.

Armenia (Hayasdan) is the culmination of two years of historical research and a lifetime of memories for Kazarian, whose grandparents fled their birthplace in historic Armenia, now part of Turkey, before World War I and emigrated to the United States. Beginning in 1915, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, along with numerous Greeks, Assyrians and other ethnic minorities.

"The painting is a gesture of remembrance for the victims and survivors, but it is also meant to inspire conversation about how to promote understanding, compassion and tolerance amongst different communities of people," said Kazarian. It portrays a semi-abstract landscape with images and text drawn from Armenian history and culture, such as illuminated manuscripts, ancient maps, church architecture, and Kazarian's own family history and artifacts.

At the base of the painting are two open hands in a gesture the artist remembers from her grandmother, whose needle lace is also included in the work. The names of communities that suffered in the genocide are also depicted and are written in both Armenian and English.

Armenia (Hayasdan) was unveiled in Chicago at an opening reception in the artist's studio at Mana Contemporary, 2233 S. Throop Street, on April 17 and will run through the end of May. Studies and a video are also available at www.project1915.org.

This painting is just one aspect of Project 1915, a non-profit Kazarian started to foster dialogue about genocide, tolerance and forgiveness. Project 1915 also includes panel discussions, and exhibitions outside Chicago, including one last winter in Watertown, Mass., at the Armenian Museum of America, and another one running from March 30- May 13 at Thompson Gallery, Cambridge School of Weston, Mass., called Kiss the Ground: A New Armenia. After the Chicago show, Kazarian plans to exhibit Armenia in communities across the United States and the world.

Photo: Artist Jackie Kazarian stands in front of her painting, "Armenia." (Courtesy of Jackie Kazarian)

UN to EU: Take bold steps to rescue refugees

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:50:00 +0000

Senior United Nations officials took the unusual step of urging European Union leaders to take "bold collective action" to save refugees' lives in the Mediterranean.

UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general's special representative Peter Sutherland, UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and International Organization for Migration director-general William L Swing united in their call to EU politicians.

"A tragedy of epic proportions is unfolding in the Mediterranean," they said.

We "strongly urge European leaders to put human life, rights and dignity first today when agreeing upon a common response to the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean."

They went beyond the bland platitudes of the EU government leaders by demanding that they set in place a "state-led, robust, proactive and well-resourced search-and-rescue operation, urgently and without delay, with a capacity similar to Operation Mare Nostrum and a clear mission to save lives."

The UN officials requested that EU states create sufficient channels for safe and regular migration, including for low-skilled migrant workers and family reunifications, so that desperate people do not depend on people-smugglers.

They also urged "a firm commitment to receive significantly higher numbers of refugees through EU-wide resettlement, in addition to current quotas, and on a scale which will make a real impact, combined with other legal means for refugees to reach safety."

However, early signs indicated that their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

The EU leaders were planning to double financial sources to save lives in the Mediterranean, but this would not even match the original Operation Mare Nostrum exercise that was axed last October.

A draft statement under discussion said that the 28 nations would "increase search and rescue possibilities."

However, EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini revived memories of "humanitarian bombing" by saying the bloc would immediately start preparing an operation likely to have a military component.

"We will take action now. Europe is declaring war on smugglers," said EU migration official Dimitris Avramopoulos, in Malta for the funeral of 24 migrants who died at sea.

Reposted from Morning Star

Photo: Migrants board a ship as they leave the Island of Lampedusa, Southern Italy, to be transferred in Porto Empedocle, Sicily, April 17. An unprecedented wave of migrants has headed for the European Union's promised shores over the past week, with 10,000 people making the trip. Hundreds have disappeared into the waters of the Mediterranean. (AP Photo/Francesco Malavolta)

U.S. sends forces to train Ukraine National Guard, communists repressed

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 10:28:00 +0000

Some 300 U.S. military personnel are carrying out a training program for the Ukrainian National Guard near the city of Lviv, in the far west of the country.

The U.S. troops are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hope to transfer some of the skills gained in those conflicts to about 900 Ukrainian guardsmen.

The units to be trained include former private militias whom the government of Ukraine earlier had absorbed into the National Guard. Included, according to the Ukrainian government, is the Azov Battalion, whose ranks include many neo-nazi, fascist, and ultra-nationalist elements. However, U.S. officials say Azov will not be included.

If Azov is included, it will constitute a major scandal and provocation, especially in the eyes of Russia which already feels threatened by NATO being right up against its borders.

The Western governments and the corporate press say that the characterization of the neo-nazis as fascists is just Russian "propaganda." There is, however, plenty of independent evidence to the contrary - accepted even by commentators who are not admirers of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

The independent battalions came into being a year ago when, following the overthrow of President Victor Yanukovych, the industrial Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine rebelled against the new right-wing government in Kiev. The local forces that took power in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (provinces) managed to defeat, disarm or win over many Ukrainian soldiers, and the armed effort of Kiev authorities to bring the region back under control seemed to be faltering.

So the government agreed to give the right wing militias their head, while at the same time refusing to negotiate with the eastern dissidents they call the "separatists."

Many people in Eastern Ukraine are predominantly Russian speaking and have close economic and cultural ties to Russia next door. They were alarmed when the Ukrainian Parliament, the Rada, voted to withdraw recognition of the Russian language as co-official with Ukrainian, even though the acting president at the time vetoed the bill. The alarm increased when neo-nazis allied with Kiev committed acts of extreme violence, including a brutal massacre in Odessa last May. http://www.peoplesworld.org/ukrainian-rightists-burn-alive-39-at-odessa-union-building/

The ultra-right Svoboda and Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) political organizations indeed have historical links to Ukrainian fascism, which throve in the period from the 1930s to the 1950s. Fascist organizations of that time massacred thousands of Jews as well as ethnic Poles and Hungarians.

During the Second World War, the main fascist organization, headed by Stepan Bandera, offered to collaborate with the German Nazis. Initially the Nazis would did not accept this and arrested the Ukrainian nationalists, whom they considered to be "Untermenschen." But later in the war, there was active collaboration.

On April 9, the Ukrainian Rada passed legislation abolishing communist ideology and forbidding both nazi and communist symbolism, portraits, statues etc. Denial that the Soviet regime was a criminal entity would be a crime also.

The law is waiting for President Petro Poroshenko's signature, but ultra-nationalist crowds have already begun tearing down statues of Lenin and other Soviet-era leaders. The Communist Party of Ukraine is under persecution, and its Secretary General , Petro Symonenko, has been told that he is a target for criminal prosecution. On Jan.10, Ukraine's prime minister, Arkady Yatsenyuk, shocked many by describing World War II as the time when "Russia invaded Germany and Ukraine."

The context for the arrival of the U.S. troops is important. On the one hand, there is a shaky cease fire between the Donetsk and Luhansk autonomist militias and the Ukrainian government. This cease fire was negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, among Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany and the Ukraine, after it became clear that the Ukrainian military was not going to be able to recapture the Donbas and might lose more territory. The initial elements of the cease fire granted provisional autonomy to Luhansk and Donetsk within Ukraine, among other things.

But this cease fire is only reluctantly accepted by President Poroshenko, and the ultra-right militias are against it.

Another piece of the context is that Ukraine is broke and desperately trying to get a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In exchange, the IMF is demanding economic concessions. These include new austerity measures in the Ukraine, already the poorest country in Europe. The deal would be based on "free" trade principles that will do great harm to the Ukrainian economy and increase unemployment. The Ukrainian government wants eventual integration into the European Union's structures, even though the country was offered a better deal by Russia in 2013.

The tradeoff for the bailout also includes clipping the wings of the freewheeling Ukrainian "oligarchs." Whether a government dominated by oligarchs like President Porshenko who is known as the "chocolate king" because of his control of the candy industry, can actually do this is as big a question.

Ukraine's creditors are taking a tough stand against the country's call for a debt restructuring. For the moment the Ukrainian government is continuing to demand this.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Moscow to pressure it to cease providing aid to the Donbas autonomists. However, Europe has doubts about this, because sanctions on Russia will harm European trade with Russia, which is considerable.

Photo: U.S. troops sent to Ukraine on a "training" mission are working with some of the same forces that caused the destruction in Eastern Ukraine as depicted above in a decimated airport in Donetsk. | Igor Ivanov/AP

Canadians' opposition to anti-communist monument grows

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 12:57:00 +0000

VANCOUVER, Canada - Plans to construct an anti-communist monument in Ottawa, honoring the alleged "victims" of communism, are encountering opposition. A project that looked like it might have smooth sailing is facing a rough time.

The project was first launched by the Conservative Party-linked Tribute to Liberty Society (TL) in 2009. It makes the dubious and unsupported claim that communist governments killed more than 100 million people during the 20th century.

TL plans to build a large grey stoned monument in downtown Ottawa in front of the Supreme Court building. The local planning body, the National Capital Commission, has already approved the project.

Judging from TL's Facebook page, which only has 872 likes, the project honoring the victims of communism enjoys little public support. After the group failed to raise the $ 5.5 million it needed to build the monument, the right-wing Conservative government of Stephen Harper jumped in and became one of the main promoters and financiers of the project.

"The reality is that they have had difficulty getting individuals or Canadian organizations to contribute financially to the project," remarked Kimball Cariou, editor of the Peoples Voice, newspaper of the Communist Party of Canada, in an interview. The government will contribute $3 million and land valued at $30 million to the project.

The Conservatives are following the lead of the European right in an effort to whip up anti-communism, equating fascism with communism. It is also an attempt, no doubt, to increase it's electoral support among the eastern European immigrant population in Canada.

The Harper government also allowed TL to violate federal rules that forbid charities to engage in political activity. When the group first applied for charitable status in 2009, it told the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) that it would be engaging in political activity by contacting Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators.

Charitable status allows a contributor to obtain a partial tax refund for a donation. In the five years that followed, the group answered "no" each time it was asked by the CRA whether it engaged in political activity.

During this time, Conservative MPs and Senators have taken part in the group's fundraising events and last year Harper spoke at a TL fundraising dinner. Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon was one of the group's founders and is a member of the organization's Board of Directors, which consists mostly of business people of eastern European origin.

In contrast, the Conservatives have singled out left-leaning groups with charitable status that engage in raising awareness about environmental issues and social and economic inequality for intrusive and expensive audits to determine whether they are engaging in political activity. In some cases, charitable tax status has been denied or scaled back to these groups.

Ottawa's mayor Jim Watson is opposing the project because the proposed grey structure would be a "blight." Supreme Court Judge Justice Beverley McLachin wrote a letter to the Department of Public works and Government Services that expresses concern that the monument would convey "a sense of bleakness and brutalism that is inconsistent with a space dedicated to the administration of justice."

The Royal Architectural Institute and the Ontario Association of Architects object to the monument on the same grounds. Local citizens have also rejected the project and are circulating a petition against the monument.

In the Globe and Mail newspaper recently, seventeen former presidents of the Canadian Bar Association argued against the monument's construction near the Supreme Court buildings. "The citizens of this country approach the Supreme Court of Canada up the majestic stairs in front of the courthouse. If this monument is erected, they will do so under the shadow of a state-imposed message of this monument," they wrote. "No citizen should feel that his or her case is being heard under such a shadow. Even a fervent anti-communist can, and should, oppose making any of our courthouses, let alone our Supreme Court house, the venue for state-imposed messages of political preference or of political opprobrium."

The opposition social democratic New Democratic and Green Parties, once ardent supporters of the project, now oppose the monument's proposed location in front of the Supreme Court.

The Communist Party of Canada calls the monument a throwback to the cold war era in which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spied on and harassed communists, resulting in social ostracism, blacklisting, imprisonment and deportations. "This proposal also represents a profoundly unjust attack on Canadian Communists, who have made many pioneering contributions since 1921, such as fighting against fascism, organizing industrial workers into unions, initiating movements to win Unemployment Insurance, public healthcare and other social programs, to campaign for peace and disarmament, fighting for the full national rights of Aboriginal peoples and Quebec, and to defend Canada's sovereignty," according to party leader Miguel Figueroa.

The CPC has sent several letters to Ottawa's National Capital Commission asking it to reconsider it's decision to grant approval for the project. Other critics have called for the construction of a monument to the victims of capitalism.

Actual construction of the monument is expected to begin later this year.

Photo: Plans are to build the monument in front of the Ottawa Supreme Court. | wikimedia commons

Cuban women’s success is America’s hope

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:19:00 +0000

I remember walking into a grand and beautiful home, remnants of a time before the Revolution. It was sunny, and the home was full of windows. Everyone was at work, but still had enough time to look up and smile. We were shortly greeted and escorted to a meeting room. The visit to the Federacion de Mujeres Cubanas (Federation of Cuban Women) became one of the many surprises in my recent visit to Cuba.

In our meeting, we we're entertained by Yanira V. Kuper Herrera, member of the National Secretary of International Affairs and Maritzel Gonzalez-Quevedo, Official of Foreign Relations. We were given in great detail, the history and accomplishments of the federation and Cuban women. After my experience with these leaders of Cuban women, I would like to share some of the historic accomplishments the federation is known for.

The FCW was founded on August 1960, at the beginning of the Revolution. Hence, this NGO organization has been active for 55 years. The early purpose was to become a beacon for women that were already organized for different reasons, but needed unity at the beginning of the Revolution. Vilma Espín was the chosen President for the FCW at the beginning of the revolution, and served that position for over 40 years. She was a revolutionary woman, who was ahead of her generation. Passionate about the task of bringing Cuban women together in the foundation of the mass organization. She dedicated her life to changing women's roles, offering leadership and guidance, and innovation in a new era for women post revolution.

The FCW now functions as Cuba's largest representation for women locally, nationally and internationally. According to EcuRed.org, the federation is described as a "mass organization that develops policies and programs aimed at achieving the full realization of equality of women in all areas and levels of society. The objectives of this organization is systematically provide input to the training and welfare of future generations."

The FCW has 80,000 organizations, beginning at grassroots level. They created a magazine for women and one for young women, but are a source for all family members. These magazines attempt to educate women and their families and provide aid in day to day life. They also created State Nurseries, for universal child care, staffed with a registered nurse and a family physician. Within their newly incorporated independent work, the number of childcare providers is growing and a training is facilitated by the FCW, with the purpose of educating both the caregivers and parents. Another significant accomplishment for childcare is that all childcare facilities and providers now have removed sexist language and behavior. One way they have achieved this is by including games that switch gender roles.

This aids in educating young minds to respect and value each other for the being, not the sex. Creating a safe environment without gender judgement, helps young minds develop in a sexual unbiased way which promotes the growth of a productive member of society in the future. This method seemed so simple to me, yet so promising. We use sexist language on a regular bases, by using words such as "guys" when referring to a group of people, even when including women. We are so absent minded when we do this, which leaves you thinking it is ingrained in our system from a younger time. The FCW has come up with a way to help remove sexist language in future generations, by addressing the problem in early stages of human development.

Further accomplishments of women post revolution with aid from the FCW are as follows; Cuban women occupy 48 percent of the parliament, and out of 15 provinces in Cuba, women lead 10. More than 48 percent of women represent labor in the country and the Minister of Justice is currently a woman. They have founded 174 diverse counseling houses that educate men and women. They also occupy 70 percent of the health and education department in the country, and 70 percent of doctors are women, making them major leaders in the success of the revolution and emancipation of women's oppression nationally and internationally. These incredible accomplishments cannot be ignored, and should be celebrated.

Abortion, the long-time taboo in U.S. and beyond, was something I felt curious about in the Cuban society. Cuban's have universal health care for all health needs, without exceptions. Not even abortion is an exception. In fact, abortion is a universal right, and it is considered as only a women's choice. Cuba does, however have a very intensive plan to educate women before making that decision; which includes visiting multiple doctors and specialists about the psychological and physical consequences of a potential abortion. However, since women have been educated about the responsibility of creating a family from early childhood, abortion is rare.

Actually, the number of children women chose to have has significantly gone down to one. Cubans say this is because women have decided to further their education, with more women reaching doctorate degrees and later starting a small family. On the other hand, Cuba is struggling with a birth rate that is dropping and an aging community. The federation and health department are now encouraging women to have more children. The health department's role is strongly focused on the aging community. Some ways they are addressing this problem is by creating rehabilitation centers, prevention of amputations for people with diabetes, and healthy eating habits. In conclusion, Cubans are concerned that their population is not growing, and abortion is not a major problem.

The role of the FMC has not only given Cuban women the opportunity to grow, learn, feel identified and independent, but are also a leading example of gender equality in the world. So, Cuban women are not only represented in a large portion of government, work and higher education, but are also reaching gender equality in multiple areas nationally and internationally.

The social consciousness of Americans is becoming more progressive. Movements are fighting for basic rights, and are supporting each other in all ethnicities, genders, identities, and economic wealth. If we as Americans received universal health care, universal tuition of all levels, and lived in a country that supported our movements, we could also reach such accomplishments like Cuban women have. If a third world country that is considered poor and has lived through colonialism, slavery, dictatorships, war, a revolution, embargo and blockade, can provide all basic human needs, and exceed in individual and organized accomplishments, why can't we hope to do the same in a country like the U.S.?

Before we walked down those grand stairs, we took some pictures together, hugged and bade each other farewell. Afterward, I was left with a feeling that was so familiar to me. Familiar to my childhood, when everything was pretty and promising. Before knowing the reality we live in, before understanding genocide, before living through years of action in defending human and animal rights. Before my understanding of Black Lives Matter movement and supporting our right to live. It was hope. Hope that we could also be liberated, and celebrated as individual human beings, not a tax number or a racial or sexist statistic. Hope for a United States of real democracy under a system that doesn't attack its own people, but helps them grow and fulfill the "pursuit of happiness" for all.

Photo: Camila Valenzuela/PW

In Germany: From the U.S. Embassy to small town thugs

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 18:03:00 +0000

BERLIN -- The little group, waiting for their appointment at the US Embassy in Berlin, were shocked when one member showed the latest photos of a haggard, incredibly aged Mumia Abu-Jamal, unable to stand without assistance.

The Mumia movement in Germany

For any who don't know, the African-American radio journalist with the dreadlocks and a wonderfully deep, warm voice has been in prison since 1981, convicted of killing a Philadelphia policeman. More and more evidence piled up that, seriously wounded, he could not have been guilty. But even those with doubts know that his trial was totally unfair, with a racist prosecutor, a racist judge, an incompetent defense attorney, suppression of evidence and witness intimidation.

But, hated for his views by the Fraternal Order of the Police, he was never granted a fair second trial. After long years in a tiny death cell, a world-wide movement saved him from the gas chamber but not from life in prison with no hope of parole. Yet his amazing commentaries on American and world events, telephoned from prison, enraged those who wanted his death. They have often tried to muzzle him, most recently with a law aimed almost directly against him.

After half-hearted medical care in prison, a frightening coma resulted in a brief hospital stay, shackled to his bed and with only rare visits. Then he was taken back to a prison infirmary unable (and perhaps unwilling) to grant needed treatment for diabetes. The petition to the U.S. Embassy near the Brandenburg Gate was to protest this.

The Mumia movement in Germany has been active almost from the start. It led rallies and parades and won support for a new trial from major German city councils. On December 7, 2000 the German Bundestag passed a resolution condemning death penalties in general and calling for a new trial for Mumia; not one party voted against it. On October 2, 2010 the European Parliament also opposed death penalties everywhere and mentioned several people on death row, explicitly including Mumia and - in vain - Troy Davis. 574 voted in favor, only 25 voted no.

It wasn't the ambassador but a polite official who met the group on the doorstep and accepted the petition, photos and factual material, while stressing that the U.S. has a different attitude toward the death penalty than European governments. It was unclear whether he realized that this petition was not about that but about urgent medical care. But he promised to send it all to the State Department which could pass it on to Governor Wolf of Pennsylvania and his Director of Prisons (to whom you can also certainly write!). This was a minor victory; in over twenty years it was the first petition on Mumia which the embassy has accepted.

Mumia's story has been compared by some here to the shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston; both concern racism, police and power. And so does a case now stirring emotions in Germany.

Neo-Nazi NPD party, PEGIDA, AfD

Large numbers of people are currently seeking asylum in Germany and Europe, after escaping, often risking their lives, from areas of severe repression, hunger and warfare. This raises problems on where to house them, especially in the weeks, months, even years when they await the decision as to whether they may remain or will be deported. They are "portioned out" to towns and cities in all sixteen German states, affording neo-Nazi groups fearsome opportunities to focus hatred against them even more viciously than against Turkish and other minorities which have been here longer. The resemblance to hatred of refugees in the U.S. from Central America is remarkable. Here, three forces have been most active: the neo-Nazi NPD party and its thugs, the more recent "anti-Islamist" PEGIDA movements of generally dissatisfied, xenophobic demonstrators, and the only slightly more respectable young party AfD (Alternative for Germany), now getting 6 percent in poll ratings.

It was the thugs who showed their hand in the little town of Tröglitz in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. When forty asylum seekers were to be given temporary homes in an unused building the local mayor, Markus Nierth, 46, who has held the unpaid job for five years, foresaw possible problems and posted a Christmas message urging the 2800 inhabitants to welcome and assist the expected arrivals. Many were willing, but not the fascists! For three months they organized weekly protests, loud and vicious, in front of his house, sometimes with over 150 goons. They planned an even bigger rally for a Sunday in March, with busloads from other areas.

That is when Nierth, a churchman and father of seven children, had had enough; he quit the job. "Must I subject my children, who have already suffered more than enough, to having armed protective policemen standing at their windows while racist, hateful shouts blast into their rooms?"

"It was not cowardice which made me quit," he stressed. "I wasn't intimidated by the Nazis but I was disappointed by the authorities. I felt that I had been abandoned."

After his decision hit the media all kinds of officials, near and far, discovered how very shocked they were. Yes, yes, they should have prevented the threatening gatherings, they should have forbidden the planned rally. Their remorse was almost tearful. (One county official who seemed genuinely regretful soon received Emailed death threats.)

Then, in the night of April 4^th, the building being readied for the refugees was set on fire, its roof was destroyed and it became uninhabitable. Two big meetings followed in little Tröglitz. At one, people quarreled about housing refugees, saying that townspeople should have been consulted in advance. At the other meeting, outdoors, attended by about 300, many vowed to help rebuild the house and welcome the newcomers, some into their homes. No arsonists have yet been found.

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt (don't confuse it with plain Saxony, Lower Saxony - or "Anglo-Saxony") has three main cities. Halle is proud that George Frederick Handel (1685-1759), composer of the great cantata Messiah, was born there. Magdeburg boasts another great composer, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), but also its mayor Otto von Guericke (1602-1686), who demonstrated the power of air pressure by creating a vacuum, pumping the air out of two metal hemispheres which two eight-horse teams were then unable to pull apart. The son of Magdeburg I admire most was an impostor: Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben, known as Baron Steuben (1730-1794). As a simple gay captain with phony titles, pretending to be a general (with a striking uniform organized in Paris by Benjamin Franklin), he became a key figure in the American Revolution. Then there is Dessau, birthplace of a more modern composer, Kurt Weill (1900-1950), and site, in the 1920s, of the famous Bauhaus school of design and architecture, with teachers like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. The school was forced to leave Dessau when the Nazis gained control there, a year before Hitler seized all of Germany.

And little Tröglitz? The Nazis left a tragic mark there, a branch of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Thousands of Hungarian Jews, living in improvised tents, worked there as slave laborers to rebuild a bombed-out chemical factory. The heavy labor at starvation rations cost the lives of most of them. One survivor was Imre Kertész, who won the Nobel Literature Prize, in part for descriptions of the camp. Could history repeat itself?

Playing footsie with the ultra right

The struggle between rightist groups in Germany, stamping and shouting slogans in one town and city after another, and the many who oppose them, reject racism and are friendly to refugees - is crucial in Germany, indeed in all Europe and beyond. Yet while the older parties voice their devotion to democracy, humanity, love and other virtues in the most moving tones, politicians of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), especially in Dresden (the capital of real Saxony), have been meeting more and more openly with AfD leaders and representatives of PEGIDA. Their justification: "There are issues regarding asylum-seekers in the world which must be discussed with everyone." Most brazen, perhaps, is Arnold Vaatz, for decades a far-right hater of anything mildly leftish, who had an answer to criticism of his footsy-game with PEGIDA: "I will never again let anyone tell me whom I should speak with and whom I should not speak with." Vaatz himself is not just anyone, but deputy chair of Merkel's caucus in the Bundestag.

At least equally disturbing are accusations that Volker Bouffier, now prominent minister-president of the state of Hesse in coalition with the Greens, but then Interior Minister, had covered up for an undercover agent of the FBI-like Constitutional Protection bureau. The agent was evidently present in the internet café when its owner, Halit Yozgat, a 21-year-old of Turkish background, was shot down in 2006, one of ten people murdered by an underground Nazi group. The agent had brought in a bag, possibly containing the murder weapon, but was protected from clarifying interrogation; interview records were shredded or disappeared. At the time Bouffier was boss of the police and has lots of questions to answer; his role may soon face some music at the year-long trial of the one survivor of the Nazi trio which organized the murders of people with immigrant backgrounds.

Easter Peace Marches

Is there no good news to report? Well, the numbers were not gigantic, but better than last year anyway. About ten thousand people joined in annual Easter Peace Marches in over 80 places. Resist sending armaments eastwards, they demanded, no more war exercises, no armed drones, and push harder for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in the Ukraine.

A second item of hopeful news, this time from Pennsylvania: Mumia, defying his serious illness, has insisted on and succeeded in writing another of his regular commentaries.

And thirdly, finally, at last - spring has arrived here, with forsythia, daffodils and budding shrubs everywhere, with early morning blackbird serenades and already perhaps (it needs checking), the wonderful song, by night and day, of the nightingales.

Photo: Protesters demonstrate against far right terror and racism in everyday life, in Munich, Germany, April 13, 2013. Banner reads : No future for Nazis. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

Worldwide solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. statement and sanctions

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 16:44:00 +0000

The massive international outpouring of petition signatures and other public acts in response to, and rejection of, U.S. President Barack Obama's executive declaration of an emergency on March 9, in which the situation in Venezuela was characterized as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. interests and foreign policy, and which was accompanied by economic sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials, has reached unprecedented proportions.

On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro announced that more than 10 million people in his country, whose total population is 30 million, had signed the main petition. Up to three million people signed in other countries.

At the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, organized by the venerable Organization of American States (OAS) over the weekend, speaker after speaker rose to denounce the Obama statement and demand its retraction. Previously, most of the national governments in the Western Hemisphere, including major U.S. allies, had expressed themselves similarly, as had China, Russia and many poorer countries around the world. Regional organizations including the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of our America (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) which includes all Western Hemisphere states except the United States and Canada, voted to condemn the March 9 statement and call for its retraction.

Although many speakers also praised President Obama's opening to Cuba and the celebrated handshake at the summit between Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, the controversy about the statement of Venezuela as a threat undercut what could have ended on a very upbeat note for the United States. From 1962 on the United States had kept Cuba out of the OAS and prevented it from attending previous Summits of the Americas, but in 2012 the Latin American states, including key U.S. ally Colombia, had flatly stated that if Cuba continued to be excluded, there would be no more summits.

The Summit did not issue the customary final document due to the opposition of the United States and Canada to some clauses in the draft. However, the parallel "Summit of the Peoples" which included the participation of workers, small farmers, women, youth, indigenous and Afro-descendents, gay-lesbian people and others, did approve a final statement in which the March 9 "threat" statement was criticized and its retraction demanded.

President Obama responded by explaining that the United States does not actually see Venezuela as a threat. The language about an "emergency" and "threat" was in fact boiler-plate language taken from the federal statute book, which it was necessary to employ in order to justify the sanctions. As can be imagined, neither the Venezuelans nor others saw this as adequate, especially since U.S. officials had earlier stated that the present set of sanctions are just a "beginning", and are still calling for a complete retraction of the statement.

President Maduro has asked that people in and beyond Venezuela keep on circulating petitions and statements until April 30.

We in the United States have an opportunity join in with all of these millions worldwide who say "no" to interference with Venezuelan national sovereignty!

A number of petitions have been circulating to repudiate the "threat" statement and the sanctions, present and future, against Venezuela and its government officials.

The School of the Americas Watch (S.O.A.W.) which for 24 years has monitored and protested against abuses committed by U.S. and allied military and civil interference in the internal affairs of Latin American countries, has developed a petition campaign. In the words of the petition, the United States should "respect the sovereignty and self-determination of the people of Venezuela".

We invite our readers to sign the petition also, and to circulate it as widely as possible among the public. Here is the link:

Photo: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, holds a box with signatures from supporters who signed a petition asking the U.S. to end sanctions against Venezuela during a ceremony at the monument for the 500-plus victims of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama in the neighborhood of Chorrillo in Panama City, April 10. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba's worker cooperatives: "We decide what to do here"

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:56:00 +0000

HAVANA - We are seated in an airy section of a newly renovated restaurant. Waiters cheerfully deliver platters laden with meat and vegetables to go along with refreshing mojitos, the classic Cuban drink. The grilled meat is tender and savory and vegetables and fruits are fresh and crisp.

We are dining at La Casona de 17. What makes this place different is that it's a cooperative of 46 workers who entirely run the operation and share in the profits. It represents one of the bold new changes sweeping Cuba as it updates its social and economic model of socialism.

La Casona Cooperative was once operated by the Ministry of Tourism. The workers made the decision to become a cooperative seven months ago. "At first we were very nervous and worried, especially about how much we would earn," related Migdelis Azahares, president of the cooperative. "Then we thought because we were one of the first, we would be well known."

Cooperatives have operated in Cuba's agricultural sector since the start of the revolution in 1959. New economic and social guidelines adopted in 2011 after a nationwide discussion provide the blueprint for the far-reaching restructuring going on in Cuba. The guidelines promote the role of cooperatives, especially in the service sector. Today there are 500 non-agricultural cooperatives employing 8,000 to 10,000 workers, mainly in the food, transit and retail sectors. Permits have been approved to start up another 1,500 with a total of 3,000 expected by the end of 2015.

The cooperatives democratically manage state property which has been loaned to them. This not only promotes economic incentives for the workers; it also decentralizes economic authority, allowing greater decision-making power in the workplaces.

It also streamlines what is regarded as a bloated and inefficient state sector. Besides turning over management to cooperatives, a lot that was once done by state ministries will now be done by the provinces and municipalities. All together, it is expected that 1.5 million workers will be laid off from the state sector. However workers are not being thrown on the scrap heap. They will be offered new jobs to replace workers who have retired, or retrained for new careers.

Cooperative experiment

The service cooperatives are in an experimental stage. La Casona "is a pilot project, but in the future I think all Palmares (state owned) restaurants will become cooperatives," said waitress Marylin Herrera. If something is not working things can be changed. Out of these experiments new rules and regulations governing service cooperatives will be established.

La Casona de 17 has some built in advantages. The restaurant, which occupies an old 1920s colonial-style mansion, has both an indoor section and an outdoor grill. Situated within walking distance of the famed National and Cuba Libre hotels, the restaurant will benefit from the expected growth in tourism from normalization of relations with the United States.

"We serve the best food in Havana!," coop head Azahares proudly exclaimed. Her boast is backed up by some great reviews on TripAdvisor. She noted, "Our menu includes traditional Cuban food like cocoyam fries, roasted pork, tamales from the Eastern provinces, tostones, rellenos, lobster and shrimp. We're also rescuing some lost recipes and serve international food to cater to the tourists."

The cooperative is always experimenting with new foods. "We get a brainstorm, for example a hamburger with multiple kinds of meat," explained Azahares. "Before we didn't sell anything with bread. But we watch very closely how people respond to the food."

The cooperative also supports other small businesses in the neighborhood such as self-employed people who produce breads and cakes and other bakery items, often working out of their homes. In the future the cooperative will bake in-house.

It took the workers about a year to establish the cooperative. They hired consultants as needed and received five months of training from a group in the Ministry of Tourism, including on legal issues so they could draw up contracts. Workers who manage finances were trained by a state bank.

They established their own pay scale taking into account quantity, quality and responsibility of work. Minimum pay scales and workplace protections fall within guidelines established by the new labor code covering all workers in Cuba.

The restaurant closed for two months to remodel. It borrowed 2.7 million pesos and has nearly finished paying it back.

Among other expenses, the cooperative must pay the government a tax of 10% of total sales. There are also taxes to use utilities and employ workers who are not members of the cooperative. This pays for the social benefits like free health care and education and retirement benefits.

The cooperative can hire up to five temporary "contract" workers without paying any taxes. But after that it pays a tax 50% higher than if the worker were permanent. It's a disincentive to hire too many contract workers. The restaurant only hires the contract workers during the heavy seasons.

Thirty percent of the profits go into a reserve fund of which 2% to 10% goes for dividends. The rest is allocated for new investments.

The laws on cooperatives don't permit an accumulation of capital nor are they permitted to create franchises. The cooperative cannot be sold or merged with another cooperative or sold to an individual. However, there are no limits to hiring people or setting up tables, except limitations of space.

If they get more revenues, they pay out more dividends and higher taxes. If they have leftover money they may help workers with their housing or help out day care centers or orphanages, or make a contribution to cancer research.

Workplace democracy

The cooperative is governed by a general assembly (GA) of workers that meets monthly and makes all decisions through majority vote. The workers elect a president and managing council that meets more frequently and makes decisions on smaller allocations of resources. If a worker has a problem he or she takes it to the GA.

All workers belong to the Cuban Workers Central (CTC), the Cuban trade union federation. A Communist Party club has been established at the request of the workers.

When La Casona de 17 was part of the Ministry of Tourism it employed 12 workers. The number has grown to 46 workers because the cooperative is now doing things the Ministry of Tourism once did and the restaurant has expanded its services including catering, takeout and group parties.

The cooperative is also able to more efficiently utilize its resources. "We used to have three workers in our business department," said Azahares. "Now only one person. But we hired more workers for the kitchen. We are more efficient than before."

"It used to be the state supplied all the materials we needed. Before we would remain idle and see who would call the boss if we needed something," recalled Azahares. "Now we can buy things at any market so we can get the best deal."

The cooperative still buys retail, but a wholesale market is in the works. When it buys from a state enterprise it gets a 20% discount.

"We are true entrepreneurs," Azahares said. "We have to decide what we do here. We look for things we are going to sell and we will earn according to what we sell."

The workers at La Casona cooperative may have been worried when they first started, but today they are brimming with confidence. The new Cuba is being born.

Photo: The cashier at the La Casona de 17 cooperative restaurant, at her desk. John Bachtell/PW

Dangerous game: Yemen and the Congress of Reaction

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:19:00 +0000

While the ostensible rationale for Saudi Arabia's recent intrusion into Yemen is that the conflict is part of a bitter proxy war with Iran, the coalition that Riyadh has assembled to intervene in Yemen's civil war has more in common with 19^th century Europe than the Middle East in the 21^st.

When the 22-member Arab League came together at Sharm el Sheikh on Mar. 28 and drew up its plan to attack Houthi forces currently holding Yemen's capital, Sanaa, the meeting bore an uncanny resemblance to a similar gathering of monarchies at Vienna in 1814. The leading voice at the Egyptian resort was Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. His historical counterpart was Prince Klemens von Metternich, Austria's foreign minister, who designed the "Concert of Europe" to insure that no revolution would ever again threaten the monarchs who dominated the continent.

More than 200 years divides those gatherings, but their goals were much the same: to safeguard a small and powerful elite's dominion over a vast area.

There were not only kings represented at Sharm el Sheikh. Besides the foreign ministers for the monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Morocco, and Jordan - most of the Arab League was there, with lots of encouragement and support from Washington and London. But Saudi Arabia was running the show, footing the bills, and flying most of the bombing raids against Houthi fighters and refugee camps.

The Yemen crisis is being represented as a clash between Iran and the Arab countries, and part of ongoing tension between Sunni and Shiite Islam. The League accuses Iran of overthrowing the Yemeni government of Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, using the Shiite Houthis as its proxies. But the civil war in Yemen is a long-running conflict over access to political power and resources, not religion, or any attempt by Iran to spread its influence into a strategic section of the Arabian Peninsula. And the outcome, as long-time Middle East journalist Patrick Cockburn points out, is likely the spread of sectarian warfare throughout the region.

The Houthis, like the Iranians, are Shiites, but of the Zaydi variety, not one that many Iranians would even recognize. And while the Houthis have been at war with the central government off and on since 1992, the issues are profane, not sacred.

Yemen - about the size of France, with 25 million people - is the poorest nation in the Middle East, with declining resources, an exploding population, and a host of players competing for a piece of the shrinking pie. Unemployment is above 40 percent and water is scarce. Oil, the country's major export, is due to run out in the next few years.

The country is also one of the most fragmented in the region, divided between the poorer north and the richer, more populous, south, and riven by a myriad of tribes and clans. Until 1990 it was not even one country, and it took a fratricidal civil war in 1994 to keep it unified. There is still a strong southern secession movement.

The current war is a case in point. The Houthis fought six wars with former military strongman Abdullah Saleh, who was forced out of the presidency in 2011 by the GCC and the UN Security Council. Hadi, his vice-president, took over and largely ignored the Houthi - always a bad idea in Yemen. So aided by their former enemy, Saleh - who maintains a strong influence in the Yemeni armed forces - the Houthi went to war with Hadi. The new president was arrested by the Houthi, but escaped south to the port of Aden, then fled to Saudi Arabia when the Houthis and Saleh's forces marched on the city.

That's the simple version of the complexity that is Yemen. But complex was not a word encountered much at Sharm el Sheikh. For the Arab League, this is all about Iran. The Houthis, said Yemen President-in-exile Hadi, are "Iranian stooges."

Most independent experts disagree. The Houthis, says Towson University professor Charles Schmitz, an expert on the group, "are domestic, homegrown, and have deep roots in Yemen going back thousands of years." He says that the Houthis have received support by Iran, but "not weapons, which they take from the Yemeni military." "Does that mean they are going to do Iran's bidding? I don't think so."

Both Democrats and Republicans hailed the Saudi attacks. "I applaud the Saudis for taking this action to protect their homeland and to protect their own neighborhood," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, agreed. The Obama administration says it is providing intelligence and logistical support for the operation.

U.S. involvement in Yemen is long-standing, dating back to 1979 and the Carter administration. According to UPI, the CIA funneled money to Jordan's King Hussein to foment a north-south Yemen civil war, and U.S. Special Forces have been on the ground directing drone strikes for over a decade.

This, of course, creates certain logical disconnects. The U.S. is supporting the Saudi bombing in Yemen because the Houthis are allied with Iran. But in Iraq, the U.S. is bombing the Islamic State (ISIS) in support of Iran's efforts to aid the Iraqi government's war on the ISIS. And while the Riyadh government is opposed to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, aided by U.S. intelligence, it is attacking one of the major forces fighting al-Qaeda in Yemen, the Houthi. In the meantime, the Gulf Council has stepped up its support of the Nusra Front in Syria, a group tied to al-Qaeda and a sworn enemy of the Gulf monarchies and the U.S.

On one level this reaches the level of farce. On the other, the situation is anything but humorous. The Yemen intervention will deepen Shiite-Sunni divisions in the Islamic world and pull several countries into Yemen, the very definition of a quagmire. As Cockburn points out, while the Arab League's code name for the Yemeni adventure is "Operation Decisive Storm," the military operation will almost certainly be the opposite: "In practice, a decisive outcome is the least likely prospect for Yemen, just like it has been in Iraq and Afghanistan. A political feature common to all three countries is that power is divided between so many players it is impossible to defeat or placate them all for very long."

Even if the Houthis are driven back to their traditional base in the north, it would be foolhardy for any ground force to take them on in the mountains they call home. The Yemeni government tried six times and never succeeded. It is rather unlikely that Egyptian or Saudi troops will do any better. While the League did make a decision to form a 40,000 man army, how that will be constituted, or who will command it is not clear.

Besides stirring up more religious sectarianism, the Yemen war will aid the Saudis and the GCC in their efforts to derail the tentative nuclear agreement with Iran. If that agreement fails, a major chance for stability in the region will be lost. Saudi Arabia's new-found aggressiveness - and its bottomless purse - will gin up the civil war in Syria, increase tensions in northern Lebanon, and torpedo the possibility of organizing a serious united front against the ISIS.

While the U.S. has talked about a political solution, that is not what is coming out of the Arab League. The military campaign, says Arab League General Secretary Nabil el-Araby, "will continue until all the Houthi militia retreats and disarms and a strong unified Yemen returns." The bombings have already killed hundreds of civilians and generated tens of thousands of refugees. Gulf Council sources say that the air war may continue for up to six months.

Instead of endorsing what is certain to be a disaster, Washington should join the call by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for a ceasefire and negotiations. "I'm convinced that military action is not a solution," she said, calling on "all regional actors" to "act responsibly and constructively ... for a return to negotiations."

The Houthis are not interested in running Yemen. Senior Houthi leader Saleh Ali al-Sammad said that his organization "does not want anything more than partnership, not control." Houthi ally and ex-president Saleh also said, "Let's go to dialogue and ballot boxes," not bombing. Yemen needs an influx of aid, not bombs, drones, and hellfire missiles.

The Congress of Europe muzzled European modernism for more than a generation, just as the Gulf Cooperation Council and Egypt will do their best to strangle what is left of the Arab Spring. Prince Metternich remained Austria's chancellor until a storm of nationalism and revolution swept across Europe in 1848 and brought down the congress of reaction.

That day will come for the 21^st century's Metternichs as well.

This article originally appeared at Conn Hallinan's blog Dispatches from the Edge.

Photo: Smoke billows from a Saudi-led airstrike on Sanaa, Yemen's capital, April 8, 2015. Hani Mohammed/AP

Right wingers attend “side” meetings during Summit of the Americas

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 23:44:00 +0000

While heads of state at the Summit of the Americas in Panama prepared to give their major speeches, there was a lot of action on the side, at various parallel meetings and at the Summit of the Peoples.

At the "Civil Society" meeting, there was sharp conflict. First, numerous delegates, who had been given preliminary clearance to attend by the Panamanian organizers, were not given credentials to actually participate. Cuba's labor federation, the CTC (Cuban Federation of Labor) and a Puerto Rican organization, the Hostiano National Independence Movement, were both denied such credentials.

On the other hand, a gaggle of opponents of the left wing governments of Cuba, Venezuela and other countries suddenly appeared as representatives of those countries' "civil society." The news soon spread among the delegations that these included people whose oppositional activities at home had been financed by the U.S. government, through the Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy and other agencies. Particularly annoying was the presence of several Cuban dissidents based in the United States, some of whom have hobnobbed politically and socially with violent extreme right wing elements in the Cuban exile community in the United States.

The story got around that Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia had arrived in Panama. Rodriguez Mendigutia is a veteran of the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961, and a long time CIA agent. To Cubans and other Latin Americans his chief claim to fame is ordering the killing of the Cuban-Argentine guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia on October 9, 1967.

Che, while heading a small group of Bolivian and Cuban fighters against the dictatorship of U.S. sponsored President Rene Barrientos, had been wounded and captured. Although Rodriguez Mendigutia did not kill Che himself, he transmitted orders from the Barrientos regime to have him killed. After Che was killed, Rodriguez fired some shots into his dead body and stole his watch.

General Barrientos and his colleagues did not wish to put Che on trial, because it would have given him a platform to project his political ideas. After the killing of Che, Rodriguez Mendigutia went on to participate in Operation Phoenix during the Vietnam War, in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese civilians suspected of sympathizing with the Viet Cong were tortured and murdered. Later he was involved in the bloody Contra Wars in Central America.

Angered by the denial of credentials to the Cuban trade unionists, and by the credentialing of the "mercenaries," all the Cuban and Venezuelan delegates walked out of the Civil Society activity. When some of the Cuban dissidents tried to lay a wreath on the monument to Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, in front of the Cuban Embassy in the Panamanian capital, supporters of the present Cuban government protested and there was a scuffle, evidently without injuries.

The parallel Summit of the Peoples, Unions, and Social Movements went more smoothly. The more than 3,500 delegates representing hundreds of labor unions and peasant, indigenous, women's, student and youth and other organizations, produced, on Apr. 11, a final declaration that reflects the progressive nature of the peoples movement for change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Approved were resolutions calling for:

*Declaring Latin America to be a zone of peace, and free of colonialism.

*Rejection of military intervention and harassment by the United States and its allies against the nations of the hemisphere, and the removal of all U.S. military bases, which have grown in number from 21 to 79 in the last four years.

*A salute to the Cuban Revolution and to the freedom, now achieved, of the Cuban five, and demanding an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, as well as the closing of the U.S. base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

*Rejection of U.S. harassment of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the withdrawal of President Obama's executive order which characterized Venezuela as a threat to the United States.

*Reaffirmation that Puerto Rico is a Latin American and Caribbean nation with full rights to sovereignty which are currently violated by the colonial tutelage of the United States.

*Expression of full support to Argentina in its efforts to reclaim the Malvinas (Falklands) islands as national territory, and for Bolivia's claim to a means of access to the Pacific Ocean.

*Support for the building of a new society based on human solidarity, which respects the rights and participation of women, youth and all other sectors.

*Defense of the area's natural resources, biodiversity, food sovereignty, mother earth and the rights of the indigenous peoples and afro-descendents, and for the right to struggle for jobs, unionization, and economic well being.

*Opposition to neo-liberal trade pacts such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas and new forms of the same thing which are being developed. Rejection of the external debt which is illegitimate and immoral.

*Supporting the processes of regional integration such as ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).

Photo: Arnulfo Franco/AP

MoveOn moves to halt GOP sabotage of Iran nuke deal

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 22:40:00 +0000

The political action director of the eight-million member Internet action organization, MoveOn.org, is warning that the Republican-led Senate could be starting down the path to a new war in the Mideast and that a handful of Democrats could join the GOP in tipping the nation over the edge.

The warning, in a statement issued late Friday, came after some media reports that the U.S. Senate is now just one vote away from a veto-proof majority on a Republican bill that could put the United States on a path to war and that it will be up to a handful of Democrats to prevent this from happening.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer-a front-runner to replace Sen.Harry Reid as the Senate Democratic leader-is supporting a Republican bill "that could very well undermine President Obama's negotiations with Iran. And a small group of Democrats are joining him," Ilya Sherman, MoveOn's political action director, said in a statement he sent out over the Internet Friday and Saturday.

"Now, it's possible that if even one more Democrat joins with Republicans and overrides the president, we could be on a path to war," he said.

To stop this march to war in its tracks, MoveOn has set an ambitious goal to get the organization's members to withhold at least $1 million in donations from Democrats if they undermine President Obama on Iran.

"Can you pledge to withhold contributions from Democrats - if they undermine President Obama's diplomatic efforts with Iran?" MoveOn asked its members across the nation in an email Saturday.

Members have been asked to say, "Yes, I'll pledge to withhold contributions from Democrats who succeed in undermining the president's diplomacy with Iran-and any party committee that supports them" and then to tell how much money that amounts to between now and Election Day.

The email asks that if a member's answer is "No" that he or she share their reasons.

There is already some good news in the fight to stop the Senate's rush to war, according to Sherman:

"As the Republicans have overplayed their hand, the tide may already be turning in our favor," he said Saturday. "Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Mark Warner-who had previously supported the Republican bill-are now undecided about whether or not to undermine President Obama with legislation.

"Our activism is working-and we need to keep the pressure up. But we can't leave this to chance-or rely on our normal type of pressure campaign. Not with so much on the line."

Sherman said that threatening to withhold campaign money is a powerful way to let Democrats know they will be held accountable in a big way if they succeed in derailing diplomacy.

MoveOn members donate millions of dollars to candidates each and every election cycle. ".A public threat from MoveOn members to withhold $1 million or more from Democrats who would recklessly put us on a path to war will carry real weight," Sherman said.

Photo: Obama speaks on the nuclear deal with Iran. | AP

U.S. moves against Venezuela make for rough Summit of the Americas

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:09:00 +0000

Up until March 6, many people thought that the Seventh Summit of the Americas meeting, organized by the Organization of American States (OAS) and scheduled for this coming weekend, April 10-11 in Panama City, Panama, would feature an easing of tensions between the United States and the group of Latin American and Caribbean states with left or left-center governments.

The announcement by Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Raul Castro of Cuba that there would be steps toward normalization between these two countries led to feelings of relief and satisfaction in the Latin American countries. The last three remaining members of the "Cuban Five" were released by the United States and Cuba released jailed subcontractor Alan Gross and Several other people. Meetings began between U.S. and Cuban diplomats to facilitate the eventual normalization of relations between the two countries. The acceptance by the United States of Cuba's presence at the Summit is also new, and came at the assistance of several member nations who threatened to boycott the event if Cuba continued to be excluded, as it had been at U.S. insistence since the Cuban Revolution.

But late in 2014, Congress passed a bill imposing sanctions on Venezuela, one of Cuba's closest allies in the hemisphere. President Obama signed the bill on December 18. On March 6, Obama issued an executive declaration of a "state of emergency" and stated that the situation in Venezuela represents an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. interests and foreign policy, and therefore he was implementing sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials. But incongruously, the sanctions were imposed not for threatening the United States in any way, but for abuses supposedly committed against the right-wing opposition within Venezuela during riots a year ago, and the arrest of a number of right wing figures for their part in a failed coup earlier this year.

As much because of the bizarre language about an obviously nonexistent "threat" to the United States as because of the sanctions themselves, all sectors of the Latin American left and left center, in and out of power, erupted in protest and in solidarity with Venezuela. A dozen international organizations, including the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of our America (ALBA), UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC, which includes every single Western Hemisphere state except Canada and the United States), plus individual governments, mass organization and leaders throughout Latin America and the world denounced the U.S. policy and a demanded that it be rescinded. China, Russia and the nonaligned nations joined in. In Venezuela itself, at writing 8 million people have signed petitions demanding that President Obama retract his declaration.

The language about an "unusual and extraordinary threat" is taken from Title 50, Chapter 35 paragraph 1702 of the U.S. Code which defines the steps to be taken in imposing sanctions, in this case on Venezuela. But this suggests that in order to impose sanctions the U.S. wanted, an imaginary "threat" had to be cooked up.

The executive statement and sanctions are sure to be raised at the Summit of the Americas, both in the main session and in the several side conferences and meetings. This will threaten to overshadow a probable face to face meeting between Presidents Obama and Castro, who will both be at the Panama encounter.

To counter the tongue lashing and bad publicity that Obama and the United States will probably receive, there is frantic organizing on the right. A group of 19 former presidents and prime ministers of Latin American countries plus Spain have issued a demand that Venezuela release a group of people arrested for plotting a coup in February of this year. Several of these presidents had much worse human rights records when they were in power than does Venezuela now: Felipe Calderon of Mexico presided over a "drug war" in which tens of thousands were killed, including many civilians, and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia's blood toll was even higher. Others ran utterly corrupt administrations, while still others had "hard right" associations, such as Spain's former Prime Minister Felipe Aznar with his Francoist roots, and former Chilean President Sebastian Piñera whose career started under the bloodstained dictator Pinochet.

The people whom they defend are a strange lot. Parliamentarian Maria Corina Machado had signed a document in 2002 supporting an attempted coup d'état to overthrow President Hugo Chavez, but since has claimed that in fact she signed it by mistake, thinking it was merely a sign-in sheet. Machado now has appeared as an official of the government of Panama, causing protests and threats of legal action both in that country and in Venezuela.

The Cubans and Venezuelans accuse the United States of bringing in "dissidents", whom they characterize as mercenaries in the pay of U.S. government agencies, to the Summit. Panamanian unions and progressive people's organizations have protested the presence of these individuals also: Having promised the Panamanian government not to organize demonstrations against President Obama and the United States during the Summit, they now feel taken advantage of. Cuban trade unionists complain that they are being excluded from a key "civil society" forum.

The possibility of confrontational situations at the summit is now very high, and can only be diffused by the retraction of the anti-Venezuela statement and sanctions.

Photo: Felix Rodriguez, the murderer of Che. Beside him, one of the Cuban counterrevolutionaries invited to the forum Civil Society in Panama. At least 20 Cuban counterrevolutionaries have credentials to participate in the Forum of Civil Society. Telesur.

Iran nuke deal a win for sanity

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 14:19:00 +0000

The deal reached by Iran and six world powers guaranteeing reduction of Iran's nuclear energy program and channeling of that program into peaceful uses is welcomed by the forces of sanity around the world.

President Obama, and the other world leaders backing the deal, recognize that a stable Iran able to participate in world affairs can only be a good thing. The bombs-away crowd in the Republican Congress and the Netanyahu government in Israel, of course, prefer conflict and tension on the world scene. As always such conflict and tension serves to divert attention away from domestic concerns.

The forces for sanity, however, have prevailed with this preliminary agreement. Iran is a huge country with a large and productive working class, developed industry and a long and rich cultural heritage. They have much that is good to offer the world. Its people are celebrating this agreement because they want to join the rest of the world and free themselves from crippling sanctions that, in the long run, hurt everyone. Bringing Iran into the international arena will benefit not just the Iranians but the people of the entire planet.

Those opposing the agreement, we must remember, have always been for increasing tension and endangering the world. Back in the 1950's they were the ones who backed the overthrow of the progressive Mossadeq government in Iran and since then they have never forgiven that country for nationalizing its oil industry. The bombs away crowd then backed the despotic regime established by the Shah, helping create the desperation in Iran that fueled right-wing Islamic fundamentalism.

Happily, we have a U.S. president today who sees the need for diplomacy to curb those nuclear weapons. The result is that for the first time in many decades Iran is talking to the United States. While this does not solve all the problems, or clear up all the "sins" of either Iran or the United States for that matter, it is a much-desired step in the right direction. The alternative, more war in the Mideast that could spread around the world, is unthinkable.

Photo: Iranians celebrate over the nuclear agreement. | AP

Nuclear weapons group praises historic Iran agreement

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:01:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France, plus Germany (P5 + 1) and Iran reached an historic framework agreement regarding Iran's nuclear program last week. The "Common Understanding On Principles" claims to take steps that will keep Iran from producing a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting international sanctions against the country.

"This historic agreement between the international community and Iran on its nuclear program will ensure it will not produce a nuclear weapon making the U.S. and the world a safer place," declared Paul Kawika Martin, the political director of Peace Action, the largest peacec group in the U.S. founded to deal with abolishing nuclear weapons.

"This agreement promises to keep Iran at least a year away from having the fissile material needed to make a crude nuclear weapon," Martin said. "Without an agreement, that timeline shrinks to three months and the threat of war increases dramatically."

Martin has been working on the Iran issue for over eight years and had the rare opportunity to spend time in Iran.

Recent polls show that Americans oppose military intervention by 71 percent and support reaching an agreement. The parties conducted marathon negotiations past their self-imposed deadline of Mar. 31 to develop the solutions that will create the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action (CJPOA). The parties have until June 30 to agree the technical and implementation specifics and sign the deal that will last ten years with parts lasting longer including inspections and monitoring set to occur indefinitely.

"The success of these talks, again proves that diplomacy works. Instead of isolation, sanctions that don't affect leaders or military intervention that costs vast amounts of blood and treasure and untold long term costs and unintended consequences, the U.S. used dialogue, negotiations and the international community to solve conflict. These notable negotiations may pave the way for more discussions on issues like human rights and regional security that will further reduce Middle East tensions," added Kevin Martin, executive director of Peace Action.

The agreement includes five major components: Decreasing the stockpile of material that could possibly be made into fissile material, limiting the quantity and quality of centrifuges that could make highly enriched uranium needed for a nuclear bomb, reconfiguring the nuclear reactor (and securing its spent fuel) in the city of Arak so it produces an insignificant amount of weapons grade plutonium, implementing unprecedented inspections and comprehensive monitoring and, finally, scheduling and implementing the lifting of specific sanctions on Iran.

"An agreement with Iran on its nuclear program is better than any imaginable alternative. Military strategists have said over and over again that a military intervention with Iran would at best slightly delay any nuclear program and at worst force Iran to engage in getting a nuclear weapon even if they had no such program. Any letters or legislation that offers more sanctions or ties the hands of the negotiators are clearly meant to kill the talks. Poison pill bills like Senator Bob Corker's that could delay implementation of an agreement for months and puts certification hurdles nearly impossible to clear should be defeated. Scuttling the accord would be very short sighted as an agreement with Iran on their nuclear program would likely lead to productive negotiations on other items of concern with the Iranian Government. More sanctions on Iran are likely to only embolden Iranian hardliner rather than solving the problem," concluded Martin.

Photo: Obama speaks on the breakthrough in Iranian nuclear talks. | Susan Walsh/AP

U.S. military intervenes in Latin America, Marines going to Honduras

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:54:00 +0000

Honduran military authorities announced March 27 that some 250 U.S. Marines arriving soon will be based at the U. S. airbase at Soto Cano. Equipped with a high-speed "JHSV Spearhead" catamarans at least four "CH-53E Super Stallion" helicopters," and possibly "MV-22 Osprey tilt rotors and KC-130 Hercules tankers," they are part of the "Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-South."

The official version of their mission is to carry out "training for forces in the region, humanitarian assistance missions, and anti-drug operations."

The SPMAGTF, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is part of Marine Expeditionary Force II. According to the Marine Corps' web site, a "MEF possesses the capability for projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a period of 60 days. A similar [Marine Corp] expeditionary force is based at Moron Air Base in Spain as support for the U.S. Africa Command.

The announcement of the Marines' arrival coincided with the opening in Tegucigalpa of the Central American Regional Security Conference. The official purpose was to build a "shield against organized crime." Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez welcomed the gathering of military, intelligence and drug-war officials from 14 nations. U.S. Marine General John Kelly, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told attendees that, "There is a large contingent of U.S. officials here ... Ms. Erin Logan is here from the White House. ... [T]his is the first time we've had someone from the White House, at that high a level, attend this conference." The region is among President Obama's "top four national security and national policy priorities."

The Soto Cano airbase has been emblematic of the U.S. military's long presence in Honduras. It's home-base for 500 U.S. troops and was the organizational center for U.S. support for the anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980's. Critics of a U.S. role in the 2009 military coup that overthrew elected President Manuel Zelaya often cite the Soto Cano base. They point to the stopover there of the plane carrying Zelaya from the capital to exile in Costa Rica.

Others displeased with the U.S. military presence in Honduras note the recent construction there of three Navy bases costing millions of dollars . Defense Department officials have identified Honduras as the center for U.S. military communications in Central America and drug - interdiction efforts. The country, which claims one of the highest murder rates in the world, is in fact a way station for illicit drugs moving from south to north.

Condemnation of the outsized U.S. military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean is not new. In that vein, former Colombian President Ernesto Samper, no radical, recently proposed the elimination of all U.S. military bases in the region; they are a left-over of "the cold war epoch, he said. Samper was speaking on behalf of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), established in 2008 to promote continental unity and political and economic cooperation. Samper is the UNASUR's secretary general. He wants his proposal on the agenda of the upcoming Summit of the Americans set for Panama Apr. 10-11.

He could have been thinking of the report in mid-March that some 3,500 U. S. Marines will be deployed to Peru over the next year for either short or long stays. Peruvian spokespersons say they will be training Peruvian counterparts for drug-war missions. There are hints however, as to counter-insurgency purposes for the U.S. troops and references to Peru's strategic location between Bolivia and Ecuador, each with a leftist government .

These recent developments will hardly smooth the way for President Obama at the upcoming Summit of the Americas. He's already fending off criticism of the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela that he announced on Mar. 9.

And to have old-timers in U.S. governing circles speculating about Colombia's future military needs, especially as regards Venezuela, complicates matters for the president. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former State Department, CIA, and NSA official Mary Beth Long recently attended a meeting in Bogota called by the Colombian Defense Minister Pinzon and attended by President Juan Manuel Santos. Ostensibly they were helping the Colombians plan a role for their military after any peace agreement with FARC insurgents takes effect.

At a press conference on Mar. 28, Long said she was pleased the Colombian "military is studying other threats in the region represented by their neighbors, like Venezuela." Giuliani opined that, "local crime is terrible but it's much better than to have to be concerned about the FARC and drug-traffickers taking over the government."

Interviewed later, Giuliani foresaw the Army fighting "other lawless groups." He advised that neither the size nor the budget of Colombia's military be reduced. Venezuela, he said, "is like a true tragedy [with things] going from bad to worse."

Photo: In this photo U.S. Marine helicopter and troops involved in operations in Guatemala in 2012. | AP/U.S. Marine Corps.