The Largest Minority

July 11th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Anyone still believing in the virtues of capitalism must have a blind eye towards the environmental devastation and human rights violations occurring in the Third World. With the unchecked power of business, health and prosperity are no longer inalienable rights, but commodities only the bourgeoisie can afford.

In 1993, a class action lawsuit was filed against Chevron in New York on behalf of roughly 30,000 indigenous Amazon residents for polluting their environment. The oil giant succeeded in having US courts send the case to be heard in Ecuador, where it has been re-filed.

In the event that Chevron should lose the case, it has filled a claim with the American Arbitration Association to have Petroecuador, a state-owned Ecuadorian oil company, take on any clean up costs and legal fees. The Ecuadorian Government has been successful in temporarily suspending those arbitration proceedings with New York’s Supreme Court.

May 12th, 2009 by Guest

Venezuelan police arrested four men and confiscated a large quantity of sophisticated weaponry that government officials speculate could have been part of an assassination plan against President Chávez. This discovery occurred in the context of a wave of apparently politically motivated violence that Chávez supporters suspect is part of a wider new campaign against the government.

On Friday the Venezuelan investigative police raided an apartment in north Caracas which was allegedly the property of a French citizen, Frederik Bocquet, who according to Tarek El Aissami, minister for internal affairs, is “a person ready and trained in the military and furthermore, is a sniper.”

Following the weapon confiscation El Aissami said, “There’s an irrational sector of the opposition in this country who still hold hopes of destroying this revolutionary process and they have planned as their objective, getting rid of President Chávez.”

He explained, “We can demonstrate that this type of weapon used by these military terrorist organisations are for destabilisation actions. With this discovery we don’t hesitate to tell the country that we have landed a strong blow against terrorism and to those groups who want to drag Venezuela down to scenes of blood and confrontation.”

In the apartment police found a range of weaponry, including 13 long range rifles, 3 shot guns, knives, two machine guns, silencers, telescopic citers, bullet-proof vests, 20,000 bullets, grenades, military uniforms, radio equipment, electronic detonator systems, and half a kilogram of C4 explosives.

In connection to the discovery the police have detained three men of Dominican nationality along with Bocquet.

read full article…

January 15th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

By Anna Pelegri - BETHLEHEM

Venezuelan flags and portraits of President Hugo Chavez have been flying high during protests in the West Bank against Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

The Venezuelan president’s decision on January 6 to expel Israel’s ambassador from Caracas — the only country apart from Mauritania to take such a step — has made the left-wing South American leader a hero to Palestinians.

Hamas has welcomed Chavez’s “courageous decision,” while Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, urged Arab states to follow the Venezuelan president’s example.

Chavez on Saturday accused Israel of being the “murder arm” of the United States and said the solution to the Gaza crisis was in the hands of Barack Obama when he becomes US president later this month.

Mohammed al-Lahham, an MP for the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said Chavez was “a symbol of the struggle for liberty, like Che Guevara. This distinguishes him from the world’s other presidents.”

His opposition to Washington, Israel’s loyal ally, over the invasion of Iraq and to the Israeli offensive against Lebanon in 2006 have made Chavez a symbol for all peoples who “are resisting and fighting against occupation,” he said.

Venezuelan flags and portraits of Chavez could be seen lofted by demonstrators in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem, Ramallah and Hebron during rallies last week.

Al-Jazeera television ran an interview with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro in which he slammed “the criminals who govern Israel” and who have “carried out a holocaust against Palestinians for 60 years.”

“I would like to be able to give Chavez a Palestinian passport so he could become a Palestinian citizen. Then we would elect him and he would become our president,” said Mahmud Zwahreh, mayor of Al-Masar, a community near Bethlehem where 8,000 people live in poverty.

“This is the right reaction” to American domination, said the mayor, who is printing out as many portraits as he can of the Venezuelan president to hand out to protesters.

“Everyone here knows about him. More and more people are coming to ask me for photos to carry during the demonstrations,” Zwahreh said.

Mohammed Brijeh, who heads an action group in the Bethlehem area against the security wall between Israel and the West Bank, said: “Chavez’s response is worth more than the UN’s.”

The United Nations “only does what Israel wants,” he said.

“If only we had leaders as strong as Hugo Chavez,” Brijeh said, while Zwahreh said: “We have no leader with a clear strategy and mission.”

Abbas and his moderate Fatah movement have been weakened by rivalry with Hamas and by the ever-present memory of his predecessor Yasser Arafat, whose portraits still adorn many public buildings and homes.

Iyad, who runs a shop near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, has no doubt: “Chavez is the best president. He always supports the Palestinians.”

“He is better than Arab leaders. Jordan and Egypt should have also expelled their ambassadors (from Israel). It is a real shame that we have no leaders like him,” said Assem, another shopkeeper.

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November 26th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Not more than a few years ago, no country would have dared put on such a defiant display right under the nose of the world’s only superpower. American imperialism is weakening due to an economic collapse and the victims of capitalism the world over are rightly taking advantage of it.

President-elect Obama has stated that we must strengthen our control over Latin America once again to combat the rise of democracy, especially in Venezuela, but that goal will hopefully take a backseat to more pressing issues when he gets into office.

September 10th, 2008 by evmonk

Rarely does the entire world agree, but Obama v. McCain has produced a global consensus! Okay, there were only 22 countries polled, but still…

If we can momentarily put aside our obvious preference for neither of the major party candidates, we’ll see that something important and perhaps unprecedented is happening. The world, speaking in unison, is pleading with Americans to elect Obama. The American people, like all people, are prone to manipulation by clever media campaigns, scare tactics and political chicanery. But I genuinely believe that while we were dumb enough to elect Bush…twice, 2008 is the last straw. Let’s make sure that this clear conviction from the rest of the world becomes a theme over the next two months. If Americans understand the depth and passion behind public opinion around the world, they won’t make the same mistake thrice.

Anyway…I’ve pulled out what I feel are the highlights of the poll below and after the break, and the full report (PDF) is definitely worth skimming if you’re interested in this type of thing.

All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama elected US president instead of his Republican rival John McCain. Obama is preferred by a four to one margin on average across the 22,000 people polled.

The margin in favour of Obama ranges from just 9 per cent in India to 82 per cent in Kenya. On average 49 per cent prefer Obama to 12 per cent preferring McCain. Nearly four in ten do not take a position.

The poll also explored the expected impact of the US election. In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view is that, if Barack Obama is elected president, America’s relations with the rest of the world are likely to get better. If John McCain is elected, the most common view in 19 countries is that relations will stay about the same as they are now.

A similar poll conducted for BBC World Service by GlobeScan ahead of the 2004 US presidential election found that, of 35 countries polled, 30 preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry, rather than incumbent George Bush, elected president. At the time, the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland were among the few countries to favour Bush’s re-election. All three now favour Barack Obama over John McCain….

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September 8th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The one thing that fascist administrations, both in the US and Colombia, still shouldn’t do is piss off the courts. The judiciary could give a fuck about the rest of us, but lay a finger on their power or salary and even a largely unchecked executive is bound to run into some confrontation.

Two Colombian courts have issued orders against right-wing terrorist President Alvaro Uribe and several government ministers and officials to be jailed for three days for failing to enforce a legal ruling that raised the wages of nearly 150 judicial employees. Around 30,000 officials are now on strike to demand higher wages. The ruling came after the staff had made a court appeal, arguing that the deadline for the president and government to act passed in February.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has overturned Uribe’s three-day prison sentence, ruling the regional court does not have jurisdiction over the chief executive. The court determined that the president can only be investigated by Congress and sanctioned by the Senate under the constitution.

This is merely one of the most recent clashes between the executive and judiciary branch. Judicial investigations into the involvement of paramilitary leaders with Uribe’s allies in Congress have led to constant intimidation of the judicial branch by President Uribe himself. The presidents of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Council, the Constitutional Court and the State Council met a UN delegate late last week to denounce what they have called “the threat to judicial independence” and “attacks of the executive branch”.

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August 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Evo won a huge victory against the racist separatists who are trying desperately to maintain their illegitimate rule. Much to the dismay of a handful of governors, more than 63 percent voted to back Morales’ government, which is nearly ten points more than the 54 percent that elected him in 2005. This is a great victory for the proletariat of all nations. As I’ve said before, when a democratic revolution comes to North America it’ll come from the south.

Jim Shultz has a more in depth analysis of the referendum here.

July 20th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Venezuelan oil company Citgo, together with the Citizen’s Energy organization, will be providing about 460,000 energy efficient light bulbs to low-income US households. Venezuela’s Ambassador to the US said, “This program is a counterpart to our efforts in Venezuela, where more than 60 million conventional light bulbs have been replaced by energy efficient ones through Misión Revolución Energética.”

The U.S. project will start as a pilot program in communities that already receive discounted heating oil from Citgo throughout the U.S. Communities in the energy-saving light bulb pilot project include Washington, D.C.; Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas; Lamont, Illinois; and Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Citgo refineries operate. It will also be implemented in low-income communities in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Milwaukee, Madison, and Minneapolis.

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