You forgot my East Asia thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138058.msg5211887#msg5211887). :PShush. We've always been at war with Eastasia. There's no more to discuss in that regard
(Which is totes okay, I forget it too for the most part.) :-[
You forgot my East Asia thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138058.msg5211887#msg5211887). :PI thought there was one, but I couldn't find it so I thought it got deleted by the Toad for some reason or other. Link up there, in case people care.
(Which is totes okay, I forget it too for the most part.) :-[
Now Canada's going to feel left out :(Cañada. Problem solved.
With some dredging, I believe this is the most recent Latin American mega-thread. So, without further ado: Cuba's Fidel Castro, former president, dies aged 90 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953). It was confirmed by Cuban state television, but no further information at the time of the announcement.He survived hundreds of assassination attempts... but he was powerless before the wrath of 2016.
Well, quite frankly if this is the scenario, then one would likely anticipate a power struggle to follow suit, with castro being dead and whatnot, correct?He was retired for the past 8 years, so I think not really, no.
Well, quite frankly if this is the scenario, then one would likely anticipate a power struggle to follow suit, with castro being dead and whatnot, correct?He was retired for the past 8 years, so I think not really, no.
A lot of Polish media is actually talking about Castro in positive light.DIRTY POLISH COMMIES
Huh.
There have been legit elections all the time.
My hat off to a true legend, who now joins the ranks of giants. The struggle continues.
Ye, even if he hated homosexuals to the bone and murdered tons of people simply for not fitting into his plans for Cuba (with the volunteering help of Guevara and other similar trash), he will be remembered in a good light by idiots worldwide, because genocide is ok as long as its well presented.Yes, genocide is actually okay as long its well presented - at least for a majority of population, that is - and here's a little quiz to prove it: who was the victim of the, unarguably intentionally committed, de-facto biggest ethnic cleansing in modern era (i.e from the beginning of 20th century)?
Ohhhh, wow.Spoiler: Heh. (click to show/hide)
Castro was a leader of Communist country with all it's pros and cons. And, in comprasion to many other Communist leaders, he did a pretty good job actually.Yeah, pretty much this. He was a complex character, and had both virtues and flaws.
It was Germans, after WW2. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_and_expulsion_of_Germans_(1944%E2%80%9350)) 12 million people were forcibly relocated from their ancestral homes, on which they and their families lived for centuries before, with estimated 500 000 dying on the way.The problem is that your definition of Ethnic Cleansing is specific to the point of uselessness. Genocide is very much a form of ethnic cleansing, and under that definition you are very much wrong: comparing 12 million jews and Slavs killed in the Holocaust with 12 million germans relocated does not make one's heart go out to the poor germans.
My mother already showed this meme to me, and its punchline was a little better ("Fidel: Adios").Spoiler: Heh. (click to show/hide)
Yeah, Raul Castro (who's 85) has taken over as leader for the past 8 years. I read somewhere that he was going to step down at the end of his term (whenever that is) and allow elections, but nothing's a given (or guarantee) with a dictatorship.2018 is when he pledges to step down. For what it's worth, Raul's son Alejandro Castro Espín (he's no liberal, but it's speculated he represented Cuba in the agreement with the US) seems most likely to have the biggest role in the new government, but no one knows whether it will be a dictatorship, a coalition, or something else. Even just guessing Raul's son is just that: a guess, based on what we know. Raul's daughter, Mariela Castro Espin, also seems likely to have some influence; she's a sexologist and a defender of LGBT rights, and cast one of the few no votes Cuba's rubber-stamp parliament has ever seen whne she opposed a labor law bill for insufficiently strong protections for LGBT rights. Beyond that we have only speculation.
The quotes got messed up on the last one Misko, just letting you know.fixed
For what I've heard the current VP is a more likely successor...My source indicated that he was regarded as President in waiting, yes; should have mentioned that, but couldn't remember his name. My bit about Castro's kids was only to point to people who might have a big part in the new government.
This is a formal request to include Quebec in the Latinomerican sphere. It is the only right thing!Quebec can be an honorary member if it promises to behave and not sneak out at night with that boy Trump from next door.
have enabled the government to intimidate, censor, and prosecute its critics, leading to increasing levels of self-censorship. Leading opposition politicians have been arbitrarily arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and barred from running for office.So the abuses in Venezuela all happen via legal means: words, lawsuits, etc. There are some police abuses mentioned next, but those existed decades before the socialists even came to power, and most of the mayors/state governments who control the police are right-wing anyway.
Army brigades engaged in the systematic execution of thousands of civilians across Colombia between 2002 and 2008. Human rights defenders, trade unionists, journalists, indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders, and other community activists face death threats and violence, but perpetrators are rarely held accountable.
Also, heads up, one of the 5 posts following this one, I will find extremely offensive. Which one, will be decided at random.This one!
This post is 100% guaranteed to be more offensive to people who use the username Sergius.Also, heads up, one of the 5 posts following this one, I will find extremely offensive. Which one, will be decided at random.This one!
Hahaha! I can play the odds!This post is 100% guaranteed to be more offensive to people who use the username Sergius.Also, heads up, one of the 5 posts following this one, I will find extremely offensive. Which one, will be decided at random.This one!
It is political, because human rights are far worse in Colombia, which was never suspended.Honestly, I suspect it's not just politics, though that does play a major role (note that the suspension didn't go through until after recent Brazil's change in President). Where Maduro and Chavez erred is in not implementing the free trade and and investment legal requirements; a big reason why Argentina (which was conveniently "pro-Chavez before they were against," to mutilate the turn of phrase) and Brazil brought Venezuela in was for the bottom line (cheap market for agricultural goods; plenty of oil for leverage in trade negotiations abroad), and one doesn't threaten the bottom line. Given the economic unrest, Venezuela shifted from an economic asset to a liability. Arguably, Venezuela's suspension actually a wee bit less political than some suspensions in the past (Paraguay, as I noted already, which conveniently occurred at the right moment to slide Venezuela right in), though that doesn't say much at all.
Do you also notice how every article about Venezuela specifies vague "human rights abuses" but they never cite any actual information about what those entail? The BBC has has an anti-Chavez thing for at least 15 years too.
Well lets go to Human Rights Watch where they distill down the worst of the worst abuses:
https://www.hrw.org/americas/venezuelaQuotehave enabled the government to intimidate, censor, and prosecute its critics, leading to increasing levels of self-censorship. Leading opposition politicians have been arbitrarily arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and barred from running for office.So the abuses in Venezuela all happen via legal means: words, lawsuits, etc. There are some police abuses mentioned next, but those existed decades before the socialists even came to power, and most of the mayors/state governments who control the police are right-wing anyway.
Many of the "arbitrary" arrests have been for corruption (and involve politicians from both sides), or involve people who had been supporters of the military coup against the elected government in 2002. Basically, I think if you supported a fascist takeover then you should sort of expect to get a bit of shit afterwards: the specific charges might be trumped up, but it's not quite "arbitrary".
What is clearly lacking from this is any "disappeared" people or assassinations. Basically there's zero evidence of anyone being knocked off in Venezuela for political reasons. Compare that to Colombia:
https://www.hrw.org/americas/colombiaQuoteArmy brigades engaged in the systematic execution of thousands of civilians across Colombia between 2002 and 2008. Human rights defenders, trade unionists, journalists, indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders, and other community activists face death threats and violence, but perpetrators are rarely held accountable.
BTW, it looks like price controls were the sole cause of the supply shortages in Venezuela recently. They lifted the controls in some towns and the stores instantly refilled with goods. Basically, that's the same anti-inflation policy the soviets tried in 1973 that lead to the queues (note that America had gasoline queues due to rationing at the same time).
Chronic human rights problems plague Brazil, including unlawful police killings and torture and ill-treatment of detainees. Many Brazilian prisons and jails are severely overcrowded, and the lack of adequate state control within the prison grounds leaves inmates vulnerable to violence and recruitment by gangs. Other human rights problems include degrading and abusive working conditions, violence against rural activists and indigenous people involved in conflicts over land, and killings of journalists and bloggers because of their work.
Brazil has active death squads however, read Human Rights Watch's summary. Then compare the worst that's mentioned for Venezuela. They don't even hint at targeted killings against dissidents being a thing in Venezuela, unlike Brazil.Err, yes? I just don't agree that the entire suspension process is "bullshit politics," nor do I believe that Colombia's status as an associate member somehow proves that Venezuela's suspension as a full member is somehow proof of this. I believe there are actual, pragmatic reasons for the suspension. Human rights are just a fig leaf, smoke to mask the economic practicalities.
So the whole "human rights" angle is bullshit politics.
Ironically, the average inflation for Brazil from 1980-now is 370%I choose to believe you aren't being deliberately disingenuous here, but including a data point of 6821.31% that predates the beginning of Mercosur is, for obvious reasons, going to skew the data quite a bit. Besides that, it's just tacky. You'll note that, after the Real Plan (which to be fair took place three years after the start of Mercosur), Brazilian inflation has been much more consistent, and consistently low at that, at least in relative terms. (EDIT) Moreover, the four countries that entered into Mercosur entered into it knowing Brazil's inflationary state already; by contrast, Venezuela's economic deficiencies only became clear after.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brazil/inflation-cpi
Yeah, the whole point of the Real was to keep inflation in line, in which it was a clear success.Ironically, the average inflation for Brazil from 1980-now is 370%I choose to believe you aren't being deliberately disingenuous here, but including a data point of 6821.31% that predates the beginning of Mercosur is, for obvious reasons, going to skew the data quite a bit. Besides that, it's just tacky. You'll note that, after the Real Plan (which to be fair took place three years after the start of Mercosur), Brazilian inflation has been much more consistent, and consistently low at that, at least in relative terms. (EDIT) Moreover, the four countries that entered into Mercosur entered into it knowing Brazil's inflationary state already; by contrast, Venezuela's economic deficiencies only became clear after.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brazil/inflation-cpi
. Chavez may have been reprehensible in many ways, but he smart enough to not try what his successor is doing right now.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/gdp-per-capitaIt's not just about GDP per capita; that's more useful to determine average standards of living (and that is more useful if calculated in terms of purchasing power parity rather than nominal figures, at least for domestic consumption). If it were, China would be considered to have an economy worse than St. Lucia or, given that your site appears to be using World Bank nominal figures rather than IMF figures or PPP, Lebanon. Your own site agrees with me that Venezuela's economy is less powerful than Brazil's due to sheer mass.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brazil/gdp-per-capita
As you can see, Venezuela took a steep cut in GDP per capita in 2016. But Brazil suffered the exact same thing at the exact same time. So whatever is going on that cut into Venezuelan GDP per capita, Brazil are just about the last people who have the right to point the finger, on that or on human rights.
Venezuelans still have higher GDP per capita than Brazil despite the drops. So the thing is, they never give you the full picture. Venezuela is on the high side of income in South America, not the low side. Brazil is more of a shit-hole, more poverty. They just don't tell you about it constantly. Here's
"successful" Colombia's GDP per capital, it didn't suffer a fall like Brazil and Venezuela did, but they only make about 60% what those countries earn:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/colombia/gdp-per-capita
So this is more about politics, not economics. The economics of Venezuela is pretty average: some good things, some bad things, compared to their neighbours. The same for human rights: though they have less recorded political killings than "successful" countries like Colombia and Brazil, which have much more political violence and MORE poverty. So yes, it is all about politics here.
Inequality also decreased, as reflected in the decrease in the Gini Index, from 0.49 in 1998 to 0.40 in 2012, among the lowest rates in the region.Meanwhile inequality in Colombia has skyrocketed. Their Gini Coefficient is 0.535, one of the highest in the world.
Steak Is One More Thing That's Disappearing in Venezuela
A "way of life" is fading in the country's economic crisis
This year, steak-loving Venezuela has gone from being the world's second-biggest cattle importer to bringing in almost none, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A drop of 127,000 cows so far this year.
Sorry mate, but that's why I specifically compared just three countries which are close to each other, and of fairly similar size.The problem is that GDP per capita is not used to compare the power of economies in the first place; picking nearby or distant nations has nothing to do with that. GDP per capita is better used to track a country's standards of living. It might be worthwhile as an indicator of market strength (EDIT: that is, the effective purchasing power of a citizen of that nation abroad), but not so much of economic strength as a whole. The reason I bring it up as an example is because according to the superficial logic you presented in your posts, such a non-sequitur would apparently be expected. I invite you again to make the case, contrary to the uses by others, that GDP per capita should be used instead of total GDP to describe the comparative strength of the economies of entire nations to each other. I also ask you why GDP per capita should be uniquely useful for comparing the oil-producing Venezuela to the relatively diversified, non-oil-dependent economies of Colombia or Brazil, when the artificially-inflationary effect of oil production on GDP per capita is well-known.
Comparing and island to the largest nation on earth of course is not going to be meaningful. Nobody would expect a small island to be as "powerful" as China, that is a non-sequiter. A country can only be judged based on success compared to similar countries.
I used the most recent numbers which are published, from each source. I did not cherry pick. But people have been using the "but the current figures are worse!!!" argument since Chavez was elected. It's been the constant claim for almost 15 years now, that if we only had the next 6-12 months of data that aren't published, then we'd realize how horrible it really is.
But those food inflation figures are in their own fiat currency. Since they can print that, looking at values in raw US dollars is actually more meaningful for the overall health of an economy. e.g. if you look at minimum wage, it's kept pace with inflation, while the unemployment rate is 7.3%, which is less than the USA during their own recent crisis.Yes, they are in a fiat currency, but I'm not seeing a three-fold increase of minimum wage in 2015 (the most recent dates of those inflation figures) in your charts. Without actual numbers for 2016 food- and CPI-index inflation that you would find acceptable (since apparently my numbers and sources for 2016 are not acceptable, given your complete lack of comment on them), I'm not sure I can accept your assertion that minimum wage has kept pace with inflation, rather than being well-behind it.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/minimum-wages
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/unemployment-rate
The main source of the inflation is actually artificial and external. It's because of the oil money, which is dependent on global oil prices. This has happened to Venezuela before.
Venezuela gets a constant stream of US dollars into the economy. When the oil price fell, less dollars come in, making dollars more scarce, pushing up their price. And the GFC created a very large sudden drop in the oil price. People then start seeing an opportunity and start hoarding dollars to make a profit. The more that gets hoarded, the faster the price goes up (artificial scarcity), and at this point the process accelerates itself without needing an external engine. The problem is that to get off that train, you need to either flood the market with US dollars to stop people hoarding it (too expensive), print more money to keep the real liquidity the same (easy but puts the problem off), or restrict the money supply (crashes the economy).
there isn't enough food to sell
“Before there was nothing; now there’s everything,” said Jesús Barrios, 36, as he shopped in Maracaibo, the state capital of Zulia.
Well it's the Wall Street Journal, which is hardly a pro-Chavez outlet.Yes, but that's not why I was asking; there was no link at all when I responded to your post. I've just edited my post accordingly to acknowledge its existence.
I have been saving bits of misreported statistical string about Venezuela’s inflation over the past couple of months, and it has become a giant ball. The bits all come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook (April 2016) forecasts inflation to rise to 720 percent by the end of 2016. This number, which is nothing more than a guestimate, is now carved in stone. The media, from Bloomberg, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, to countless other ostensibly credible sources, repeats that guestimate ad nauseam.
Instead of reporting pie-in-the-sky estimates for future inflation rates in Venezuela, the press should stop worshiping at the IMF’s altar and, instead, stick to reporting current inflation rate. These are updated regularly and are available from the Johns Hopkins-Cato Institute Troubled Currencies Project. The current implied annual inflation rate is 140 percent; while it is currently the world’s highest, it is well below the IMF’s oft-reported forecast of 720 percent.
International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) October 2016 World Economic Outlook (WEO), which contains an estimate for Venezuela’s annual inflation. This report projects Venezuela’s annual inflation to average 475.8 percent for 2016, a far cry from my current estimate of 55 percent.
Hahaha! I can play the odds!This post is 100% guaranteed to be more offensive to people who use the username Sergius.Also, heads up, one of the 5 posts following this one, I will find extremely offensive. Which one, will be decided at random.This one!
I gain 10 insanity points, and a new psychosis. Would you mind rolling on the table, LW?/me babbles in incoherent rabid speech
Mr Lasso also promised he would take a firm stance against the government of crisis-hit Venezuela, which is closely aligned with outgoing president Rafael Correa’s leftist Country Alliance Party.
Ecuador would also advocate that the Organisation of American States push for elections in the fellow OPEC nation, Mr Lasso said.
* seriously, the media tried to claim Venezeula was strong-arming Brazil when they signed a defense pact. Despite the Brazilian army being absolutely monstrous in comparison to Venezuela's. This is the sort of bullshit you get, when you build up a media narrative that a quite small and not-really-that-militarized nation is in fact the biggest threat to the hemisphere.Kek. Everyone capable of strong-arming Brazil is outside South America. If anything, we are strong-arming them, since I doubt my government would just sit around if Venezuela decided to stop exporting that sweet petroleum.
PTW. May I suggest changing the thread title to something about Venezuela specifically?Done while also being cheeky.
I bet many venezuelans would be ok with becoming a US puppet, because US puppets usualy have something to eat.
I searched english-language news sites for this but only found one. Venezuela's Supreme Court, which is pro-Maduro, has stripped all power from Venezuela's congress, dominated by the opposition. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/30/venezuela-president-nicolas-maduro-national-assembly). In portuguese. (http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/oposicao-denuncia-ditadura-apos-supremo-da-venezuela-assumir-papel-do-congresso.ghtml)
This is big. Really big. Maduro is making his move to become South America's Glorious Leader.
It's sad, even. Venezuela was doing reasonably well before Chavez went and died. I absolutely cannot fathom why he would even make a man like Maduro his second in command. But he did, and Maduro is proceeding to completely fuck his country.
Also more shit going down in Paraguay (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/30/paraguay-reelection-amend-constitution-horacio-cartes).
but it will be interesting to see whether the congress goes along with that.
On Wednesday, the court gave President Maduro the authority to create joint oil ventures without congressional approval, by-passing the assembly.
The opposition says the court is controlled by the government.
It says the court's move is an attempt to muzzle the opposition during a mounting economic crisis in the oil-rich country.
In an emergency session, lawmakers said there had been a "rupture of the constitutional order".
Well the claims are specifically that Congress has been ignoring court rulings for some time now. The courts do in fact have the authority to interpret the constitution.No idea.
Since the current constitution was written in 1999 during the Chavez years (it was written by elected national delegates then ratified by a referedum), and the opposition have always claimed to hate that constitution and tried to have it overturned more than once, I'd be interested to know what the actual legal details are here. They're suddenly defending Chavez's constitution now?
Quoting the supreme court, my own translation: "It is warned that, as long as the contempt and invalidity of the proceedings of the National Assembly persist, this Constitutional Chamber will ensure that parliamentary powers are exercised directly by this room or by the body it has available to oversee the rule of law". (it's in one of the links I posted)
It pretty much is saying: Until you do what we want, you have no power.
That authority to create joint oil ventures was contested by some members of the congress, who were... I don't know the english term for it. Removed from their functions, I guess. They refused, leading to this.
Drought has turned parts of the area behind Venezuela's Guri dam, one of the world's biggest, into a desertYeah, this drought turned one of the world's biggest dams into a desert.
Venezuela Faces its Worst Drought in 47 Years
For the first time since 1969 Venezuela has seen three consecutive years of drought, bringing nearly all primary reservoirs across the country to critically low levels.
Surely arrest under Maduro's regime result only of the government interest in serving its people and are in no way connected to any other interests, aye?
The latest protests and political movements working towards removing maduro from his term have come from all sides, specially now food (beef, bread, vegetables and fruits) imports have plummeted hard since late 2016 (http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/11/news/economy/venezuela-food-shortages/), and production is so inefficient that employees are being forced to work the fields. There are socialists that want Maduro out, this is nothing new. Beef imports have risen in venezuela for the last 10 years because production was gradually decaying, but the constant spenditure in food imports weren't sustainable.
Those glorious spenditures on public health? It was sure fun while money lasted, because public health doesnt seem to be a thing anymore. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36323850)
The food situation has kind of become a little bit ridiculous as of late, since the government has full control of grain usage, mandating that the bigger part of use be used in bread production, which is, incidentaly, a big source of taxation. Since bakers don't have money to handle the taxation effects on their revenue from selling bread, they decided to sell brownies instead, which aren't as heavily taxed, but were arrested for it. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39302506/venezuelan-bakers-arrested-for-making-brownies-instead-of-bread) You can only eat the food the government wants you to eat, I guess, specially if the government feels like taxing it.
Two more bakers were taken into custody for making brownies with out-of-date wheat.
But TempAcc, the wheat was past it's use-by date:QuoteTwo more bakers were taken into custody for making brownies with out-of-date wheat.
Do you want health inspectors to not arrest people trying to feed you expired goods? Or do you only cry that it's politically motivated if it happens in Venezuela? Sounds like a beat up.
Also, wasn't overtaxation of bread one of the underlying causes behind the French Revolution?No. The monarchy, instead of spending money on things like food or even their army, kept throwing party after party. "The people have no bread" is a way to say that they have no food period. Because bread is a staple.
Also, wasn't overtaxation of bread one of the underlying causes behind the French Revolution?No. The monarchy, instead of spending money on things like food or even their army, kept throwing party after party. "The people have no bread" is a way to say that they have no food period. Because bread is a staple.
Basic bread is subject to the price controls. Brownies are not. So the guys want to make brownies because you can charge whatever you want for them. i.e. the bakers are arguing that they should be able to push prices of wheat-related good higher.
You know, it's interesting that there are people who're still trying to defend Venezuela government's actions, even while they dissolve the legislative branch while accusing the opposition of treason. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39449494) Thankfully, the majority of the free world citizens, both common and in the leadership, can see them for what they are - just another bunch of socialists, destroying yet another country with their failed policies.
Universial single-payer healthcare doesn't seem like a failed policy, though the countries using it do have to find a way of making it sustainable.That's because it's not socialist, it's the capitalist way. Alternatives to single-payer healthcare are, objectively, less economically efficient, ergo they're not capitalist. Capitalism is the way of financial efficiency, maximized through informed and rational choice. The shit USA oligarchs try to pull is the opposite of that.
Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Stuff like that never comes for free. There is no such thing as a free lunch - someone has to pay for it. Healthcare is, ideally, paid for by the whole society in a distributed manner, roughly proportional to their available wealth - which is to say, it's ideally paid through taxes - but it's never actually free.
Dissolving a branch of government is a move towards tyranny. No matter their legal justifications, this is a move towards communist authoritarianism, typical of all states ruled by socialists, and thus should be condemned by the people of the free world as a fundamentally anti-democratic move.You know, it's interesting that there are people who're still trying to defend Venezuela government's actions, even while they dissolve the legislative branch while accusing the opposition of treason. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39449494) Thankfully, the majority of the free world citizens, both common and in the leadership, can see them for what they are - just another bunch of socialists, destroying yet another country with their failed policies.Already brought up earlier in the thread, as a different article.Well the claims are specifically that Congress has been ignoring court rulings for some time now. The courts do in fact have the authority to interpret the constitution, which is standard separation of powers.
Since the current constitution was written in 1999 during the Chavez years (it was written by elected national delegates then ratified by a referedum), and the opposition have always claimed to hate that constitution and tried to have it overturned more than once, I'd be interested to know what the actual legal details are here. They're suddenly defending Chavez's constitution now?
Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Stuff like that never comes for free. There is no such thing as a free lunch - someone has to pay for it. Healthcare is, ideally, paid for by the whole society in a distributed manner, roughly proportional to their available wealth - which is to say, it's ideally paid through taxes - but it's never actually free.
In case you didn't notice, I was responding to a comment which, in fact, did say, or rather, imply, that healthcare should be free:Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Stuff like that never comes for free. There is no such thing as a free lunch - someone has to pay for it. Healthcare is, ideally, paid for by the whole society in a distributed manner, roughly proportional to their available wealth - which is to say, it's ideally paid through taxes - but it's never actually free.
Nobodys realistically saying that healthcare should be free, which isn't what universial healthcare is about anyway.
Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Even if they didn't actually imply that, it's still useful to point out that, no, healthcare cannot actually be free, so that other people may not be misled/misinformed by statements like these.
In case you didn't notice, I was responding to a comment which, in fact, did say, or rather, imply, that healthcare should be free:Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Stuff like that never comes for free. There is no such thing as a free lunch - someone has to pay for it. Healthcare is, ideally, paid for by the whole society in a distributed manner, roughly proportional to their available wealth - which is to say, it's ideally paid through taxes - but it's never actually free.
Nobodys realistically saying that healthcare should be free, which isn't what universial healthcare is about anyway.Yeah, how dare governments try to give basic rights such as healthcare for free.Even if they didn't actually imply that, it's still useful to point out that, no, healthcare cannot actually be free, so that other people may not be misled/misinformed by statements like these.
On April 11, a military coup toppled Chávez, who was taken to a remote location. Pedro Carmona, the chairman of Venezuela’s largest chamber of commerce, was installed as president. He proceeded to dissolve the legislature, the Supreme Court, the attorney general’s office, the national electoral commission, and the state governorships. Carmona then decreed that the 1999 constitution, which had been written by a constitutional assembly and ratified by a wide majority of voters, following the procedures outlined in the previous constitution, was to be suspended. On top of all this, the new regime raided the homes of various Chávez supporters.
Venezuelan judge Susana Barreiros found Lopez guilty of public incitement to violence and association to commit crimes. In particular, Barreiros cited over 700 tweets which she says urged supporters to take the streets to demand the “exit” of democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro.
Beginning on February 12, 2014 and lasting several months, the protests saw opposition supporters set up violent street barricades that led to the deaths of 43 people, over half of whom were security personnel and passersby.
Lopez was arrested on February 14 after clashes saw armed opposition backers attack the Public Prosecutor’s office and other government buildings, leading to several deaths and widespread public property damage.
Born into one of Venezuela's wealthiest families, Lopez is also well known for playing an active role in the US-sponsored 2002 coup which saw then-president Hugo Chavez briefly ousted from office. The arrest of the Harvard-educated lawyer has attracted widespread coverage from international news outlets, which have drawn comparisons between the rightwing politician and both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
One of the men with whom the IRI (USA's International Republican Institute) team met, former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, called the coup “a lost opportunity for Venezuela.”which was recorded by IRI in interviews back in April of 2002. Ledezma was arrested for being involved in another coup attempt in 2015, and there was actually quite a bit of documentary evidence (https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11238) include phone recordings (and the stated confession of an arrested military officer) linking him and others to that. Especially given his previous pro-coup statements in 2002, which were reported in 2008, it's not actually that far-fetched. The MO of the purported 2015 coup was actually similar to what they set up in 2002.
Show me some articles, I'm googling general statements such as "venezuela arrest of opposition leader" and all I get is about the arrests of people who were prominent supporters of the coup, being arrested for further coup-plotting.
e.g. Leopardo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma. There's pretty decent evidence against both of them. e.g. from 2008:
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3695QuoteOne of the men with whom the IRI (USA's International Republican Institute) team met, former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, called the coup “a lost opportunity for Venezuela.”
which was recorded by IRI in interviews back in April of 2002. Ledezma was arrested for being involved in anothert coup attempt in 2015, and there was actually quite a bit of documentary evidence (https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11238) include phone recordings linking him and others to that. Especially given his previous pro-coup statements in 2002, which were reported in 2008, it's not actually that far-fetched. The MO of the purported 2015 coup was actually similar to what they set up in 2002.
Show me some articles, I'm googling general statements such as "venezuela arrest of opposition leader" and all I get is about the arrests of people who were prominent supporters of the (2002) coup, being arrested for further coup-plotting.
e.g. Leopardo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma. There's pretty decent evidence against both of them. e.g. from 2008:
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3695QuoteOne of the men with whom the IRI (USA's International Republican Institute) team met, former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, called the coup “a lost opportunity for Venezuela.”which was recorded by IRI in interviews back in April of 2002. Ledezma was arrested for being involved in another coup attempt in 2015, and there was actually quite a bit of documentary evidence (https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11238) include phone recordings (and the stated confession of an arrested military officer) linking him and others to that. Especially given his previous pro-coup statements in 2002, which were reported in 2008, it's not actually that far-fetched. The MO of the purported 2015 coup was actually similar to what they set up in 2002.
Show me what I'm missing here.
Still haven't answered the question.
each of Venezuela's 23 states has its own police force, numbering around 50,000 officers altogether. Finally, since 1989's decentralization legislation, many municipalities have set up their own police forces.
During his official address, El Assami presented images of the materials Venezuelan authorities say they confiscated from Caro’s vehicle including explosives (C-4), an automatic rifle with a scratched Venezuelan National Armed Forces (FANB) serial number, 20 cartridges as well as documents with maps outlining plans, routes and a hit-list full of opposition leaders’ names.
El Assami emphasized that the list would have been used with the objective of blaming the Bolivarian government for assassinations of opposition political leaders.
"This character has a criminal record that shows two convictions, one of them 15 years for drug trafficking… [today] we verify his connection to plans to cause violence in the country,” El Assami asserted, highlighting that Caro “will be punished to the full extent of the law.”http://af.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idAFKBN14W03A
The vice president said Caro was carrying a gun, bullets and explosives, adding that the opposition politician had a previous criminal record, including charges of murder and drug trafficking.
What false-flag? Like, arrest someone then pretend you found stuff in his trunk?
I see surprisingly little mention of the fact that what the Venezuelan Supreme Court did is nothing else than a coup.Seemingly, the fact that it was done by socialists makes it okay in the eyes of some people. They're the good guys, after all, fighting bravely against the world-wide capitalist conspiracy to keep us all in poverty while enriching themselves, what's a little coup or two? Greater Good is worth such sacrifices!
Appealing to article 336.7 of the Constitution, which allows the TSJ to take “corrective measures” in the case of an “unconstitutional parliamentary default”, the Supreme Court decision also indicated that it would assume the legislature’s constitutional responsibilities until the three offending legislators are removed.
Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz expressed opposition to the court’s ruling, arguing it violated the constitution.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has violated the country’s constitution, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz warned Friday. In a surprise announcement, Ortega said she had identified “several violations of the constitutional order” in the Supreme Court’s (TSJ) controversial decision to assume temporary legislative power.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday he would resolve within hours controversy over the judiciary's annulment of congress which has sparked opposition protests and condemnation from around the world.
"I hope to have very good news this evening and clear up the controversy generated," Maduro said in a speech, calling a meeting of the state security council to discuss the attorney general's criticism of the Supreme Court's decision.
The court's ruling that it was assuming the functions of the opposition-led National Assembly was lambasted as a "coup" by critics who viewed it as a lurch into dictatorship by the Socialist Party that has ruled for the last 18 years.
Seeking to project himself as above a fray between independent powers and possibly presaging a U-turn by the Supreme Court, Maduro said he had known nothing in advance of its ruling but would immediately address the matter.
"I Activated Article 323 in the Constitution so that tonight the differences that may exist between the Public Ministry and the Supreme Court of Justice are resolved," said the Venezuelan president.
Maduro called the permanent council of the nation after the Chief Prosecutor of Venezuela, Luisa Ortega Diaz, showed "concern" about the rupture of the constitutional order in the country.
He said that in an effort to calm the political impasse he had called an emergency meeting Friday night of the National Security Council, which includes the president of the National Assembly and Venezuela's chief prosecutor.
"Like all controversy this should be resolved with dialogue," Maduro said.
The National Security Council meeting began hours later, but with at least one key detractor absent. National Assembly president Julio Borges said he would not attend
President Nicolas Maduro urged Venezuela's Supreme Court early Saturday to review a decision stripping congress of its last powers, a ruling that set off a storm of criticism from the opposition and foreign governments.
Venezuela’s Defence Council has called on the Supreme Court to review a controversial decision to annul the opposition-led Congress.
The Council as a body is there to advise the government on matters relating to security and the constitution. It brings together officials from a range of sectors, including the Army, the law, government ministers and other politicians.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced early Saturday the country's Supreme Court would review controversial new rulings which had stripped the country's opposition-controlled legislature of power.
Maduro made the announcement in a brief televised address just after midnight Saturday, hours ahead of planned mass anti-government protests and after his own attorney general broke ranks to condemn the court rulings.
Opposition activist Rodrigo Quintana, 25, was killed by a rubber bullet fired by police when they stormed the offices of the opposition Liberal party, party leader Efrain Alegre told Efe news agency.
"The police barged in, threw people face down to the ground," according to Mr Alegre, who was also hurt. "They came in aggressively, breaking the doors, it was savagery."
The cops don't actually barge into rival political headquarters shooting guns in Venezuela, but the media is giving Paraguay a free pass here and framing the headlines as being the protestors fault? Really?My guess is that no one likes Paraguay.
That's because Paraguay isn't host to the cancer that is socialism. They get a pass, because we know that, eventually, they'll return to the right, correct path of capitalism and democracy.Tone it down. I know that your country had a bad history with assholes using communism/socialism as an excuse to be totalitarian, but capitalism isn't all rainbows and sunshine either. Because while you were having your communist dictatorship, my country had a far-right, US-backed military dictatorship, as did pretty much every country in this continent.
I believe that was sarcasm.Nah, he's posted stuff like this over various threads.
...you must be joking. Equalizing socialism with capitalism?! Socialism has killed several dozen million people through famines! Socialism was so bad that it was maintained almost solely through the force of arms - everyone sane fucking ran towards capitalism the moment USSR has stopped actively suppressing movements for freedom and sovereignty!That's because Paraguay isn't host to the cancer that is socialism. They get a pass, because we know that, eventually, they'll return to the right, correct path of capitalism and democracy.Tone it down. I know that your country had a bad history with assholes using communism/socialism as an excuse to be totalitarian, but capitalism isn't all rainbows and sunshine either. Because while you were having your communist dictatorship, my country had a far-right, US-backed military dictatorship, as did pretty much every country in this continent.
Communism/Socialism is about as bad as Capitalism. Which is to say, they are both very pretty on paper and extremely abusable (is this even a word?) in practice.
India does not have a National health insurance or universal health care system for all its citizens which has allowed the private sector to become the dominant healthcare provider in the country.
Depends what you're measuring. What about life expectancy?By "almost caught up" you mean "barely reached within the region of 5 years and then started to fall off again"? And, speaking of fast rising, look at capitalist France in post-war period. Now that's fast.
(http://www.rainbowbuilders.org/development/life-expectancy-china-russia-indonesia-philippines.png)
Russia was way behind, but almost completely caught up to France and the USA during the 1950s. It tanked after 1990, but is rising again, but not like the postwar period.
China meanwhile are still basically commies and their life expectancy is rocketing past Russia's now. Also note other Asian nations on the list which are strongly lagging in life expectancy and are not in any way socialists.And by "basically commies" you mean "economically almost entirely capitalist", right. Historically, when they were economically socialist, their life expectancy was in the gutter. As seen on this very graph. This graph is also omitting quite a few of the Asian capitalist countries with long life expectancy, such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore. As for the others, I've heard that their problems are mostly due to massive corruption - an issue that plagues even capitalist nations. Though, in socialism it would've been definitely worse.
Also consider infant mortality rates.China isn't communist in the part that matters here - economically, they're very much capitalist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate#List_by_the_World_Health_Organization
Good ol' capitalist India has an infanty mortality rate of 30 / 1000 live births, whereas evil communist China has an infant mortality rate of 12 / 1000 live births.QuoteIndia does not have a National health insurance or universal health care system for all its citizens which has allowed the private sector to become the dominant healthcare provider in the country.
So good one India! You kill an extra 18 babies per 1000 births compared to China, by leaving it to the "magic of capitalism"! That's 1.8% of everyone born in India killed unnecessarily in the name of capitalism.
Just counting against the 1.34 billion people alive in India right now, they're missing 25 extra million siblings who died as babies due to having a private health system. And of course that doesn't count the missing siblings of other people who have been born there since the end of WWII, at which point China and Japan developed socialized healthcare and India did not. The total extra infant death toll for capitalism in India since WWII is around 100 million avoidable deaths.
And that's not even counting any other cause of mortality, all of which are higher in India than asian countries with socialized medicine. Indians lose 10 years off their lives on Average compared to the Chinese. If you calculate the death toll in terms of years of life lost, they lose 1/7th of their entire lives to the joys of capiltalism.
Lack of data and political fragmentation combined. There kind of needs to be someone to collect the data, which implies a stable government.Again, what you call as "socialized medicine" is actually capitalist medicine, as it's economically more effective than the "for-profit alternative". What you should be blaming here is corruption that influences things towards being more profitable for the local parts that are directing this corruption, rather than for the economy as a whole.
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
Edited with better data. I'd heard that India's private health system could be blamed for a lot of deaths but I never actually figured out the numbers before. The gap is indeed huge. 4.8% of Indians die before their 5th birthday compared to only 1.1% of Chinese. The Chinese have reduce infant mortality by a factor of 11 since 1950, whereas India only reduced it by a factor of 4.
The difference is socialized medicine vs India's for-profit healthcare system. Assuming India should have reduced infant deaths by the same factor as China to be equal, they should have a current under-5 death rate of about 1.6%. That would be roughly an equal improvement to China, based on where they started from.
So for every currently living Indian there are a missing 3.2% of the population who are their dead siblings killed by the capitalist medical system, who would be alive if India kept pace with China. That's 42 million people, and it doesn't count missing siblings of already-dead people, missing children they would have had, nor does it take into account that Indians only live 65 years to Chinese 75 years, when in fact, up to the 1950s, it was Indians who lived longer. Every Indian is missing 1/7th of their lives compared to the Chinese - this figure takes infant mortality into account however. Since everyone dies eventually, the only relative measure that makes sense is to measure how many lifetimes worth of time have been lost in one system vs the other. Since each Indian has lost 1/7th of their lifespan compared to China, that's about 200 million extra lost lifetimes worth of living for the current 1.4 billion Indian people because India's healthcare didn't improve as rapidly as China.
I've read figures from years ago estimating that capitalist deprivations killed 100 million Indians unnecessarily, and just crunching the infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy data backs that up.
Lives lost unnecessarily from India's shitty capilalist healthcare system post-WWII is the biggest genocide in history.
USA is more corrupt than Europe (and Russia IS an European country, like it or not)? Look who's talking, Sergarr.... pfft.It's not particularly controversial, most of European countries are ruled by, more or less, reasonable people, while America has always had about half of its politicians (mostly from the South of USA) be bugfuck-crazy-what-the-fuck corrupt tier.
Don't mistake partianship for corruption though. The Republicans are terrible in general however, so, there's that.
I think calling government run healthcare "capitalist medicine" because it's more efficient is in fact a cop-out.It's not when almost every first-world capitalist nation has one. USA is really the big exception here.
The fact is, from whatever raft of causes, China has much better health outcomes since 1950 than India. It's not just healthcare it's the aggregate result of all the things they did compared to India. You can't really put deaths at the feet of socialism then label lowe rates of death in socialist nations as being nothing to do with socialism. It's not a consistent argument.From what I've heard, Cuban (and Chinese) statistics are heavily edited by the government. Because, you know, the polling is run by them. There's no independent oversight in Cuba/China to prevent this, after all. And no reason for them to release true information - they've got to spread the message of how wonderful socialism is!
For every North Korea or Russia you have a China or Cuba, who have very low rates of infant mortality and high life expectancies. Saying Socialism causes famine is all well and good, but then you have to explain those fairly hardline socialist nations which have notably good health outcomes, despite 57 years of economic blockade in Cuba's case.
Cuba's infant mortality and life expectancy rival the wealthiest developed nations in the world. But they shouldn't be so good. The most fair comparision would be against similar-sized nations in the Carribbean, e.g. Dominican Republic / Haiti.
Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti are the three most populated nations in the Carribbean, with about 10-11 million people each. When talking about whether Cuba succeeded or not, those are the two relative comparisons. Cuba's expected trajectory should have been in that vicinity.
Haiti is a complete basket case, so we could count them as a fail of market economy in delivering a good life. But let's discount that for the sake of argument and compare health outcomes in Dominican Republic (often lauded as a success story) vs Cuba. Dominican republic has infant mortality of 25 / 1000, compared to 4.7 / 1000 in Cuba. The free market kills 2% of all Dominican babies compared to your chances of survival in Cuba. And that's not even taking into account that Dominican Republic has much more access to export markets than Cuba, which has been under a blockade since 1960. How would Cuba be if they were not artificially blockaded?
Slaves don't tend to live long lives.Well-maintained ones do. The people in socialist countries certainly weren't very free in choosing their lives, like, at all.
It... really kinda' is a cop-out, or more specifically just outright untrue. Government run healthcare is usually pretty specifically anti-capitalist, and heavily controlled by government specifically because capitalist systems break down and stop working right with certain industries (especially with anything approaching normal consumer/market interactions), healthcare among them. The optimization capability and advantages of capitalism requires market forces to be able to work appropriately to function -- customers have to be able to have choices, chances to deliberate on them, be interacting with a market that has actual competition, a legitimate choice to opt out, etc., etc. -- and there's a fair bundle of shit where they just don't, where it's very much physically impossible just due to the nature of the market for it to give the necessary signals for someone operating under primarily capitalist methodology to get a good results and often even a barely mediocre one. Similarly, there's quite a number where they do more than not and non-market interference is going to cause resource misallocation. One is where you curtail or eliminate capitalist economic implementation. The other is where you use it.I think calling government run healthcare "capitalist medicine" because it's more efficient is in fact a cop-out.It's not when almost every first-world capitalist nation has one. USA is really the big exception here.
Mixed economy is really just rebranded capitalism. Most of the supposed "socialist" changes they make are inherently capitalist in purpose - they maximize profit. It's just that, they maximize long-term profit, unlike the bog-standard "pure" capitalism, which focuses on short-term one.It... really kinda' is a cop-out, or more specifically just outright untrue. Government run healthcare is usually pretty specifically anti-capitalist, and heavily controlled by government specifically because capitalist systems break down and stop working right with certain industries (especially with anything approaching normal consumer/market interactions), healthcare among them. The optimization capability and advantages of capitalism requires market forces to be able to work appropriately to function -- customers have to be able to have choices, chances to deliberate on them, be interacting with a market that has actual competition, a legitimate choice to opt out, etc., etc. -- and there's a fair bundle of shit where they just don't, where it's very much physically impossible just due to the nature of the market for it to give the necessary signals for someone operating under primarily capitalist methodology to get a good results and often even a barely mediocre one. Similarly, there's quite a number where they do more than not and non-market interference is going to cause resource misallocation. One is where you curtail or eliminate capitalist economic implementation. The other is where you use it.I think calling government run healthcare "capitalist medicine" because it's more efficient is in fact a cop-out.It's not when almost every first-world capitalist nation has one. USA is really the big exception here.
Trying to run a pure capitalist or pure socialist or pure just about anything in terms of economics is what is technically called by anyone in the field with two brain cells to rub together "massively goddamn stupid". You use what works for a specific economic issue. If that's capitalist economics and a mostly uncontrolled market, good, use that. If it's socialist/state-run control and a tightly controlled or non-existent market (so far as free market stuff goes), then you use that. Every major developed country is called a mixed market economy for a reason. Capitalism does not work on a national scale on its own. Socialism has serious problems as well. Most ideologically pure economic systems, or things very close in alignment with them, similarly fuck up. An economy is not a box of nails that can be drove into place with the same hammer. A suite of problems that cannot be solved with the same solution requires the use of a different solution or the problem is going to either stay or get worse.
I think capitalism fails any time that something terrible will happen if you don't get the product. Because at that point the idea of freely choosing goes out the window, and now you're under someone thumb.Pretty much? The failure points of a capitalist system aren't exactly a mystery. Markets need a certain set of conditions to operate at peak optimization efficiency, and the more (and more important) conditions that are lacking, the worse it does -- and there's very much a point where it starts being a net negative. Most vital or emergency services, most infrastructure, and many activities that are valuable elsewhere but unprofitable for the producer are things rife with practical examples. Some things just can't really be turned into a functioning market, which is where a third party needs to come in and a market either controlled or prevented.
-snip-I'll just say that "mixed" is really not a descriptive word.
-snip-Can't we get a better word for that, free of associations with some of the worst regimes on the planet? I'd like to spread good ideas in countries like Poland and Estonia without a risk of getting misunderstood as a defender of tyrannical regime that oppressed their countries.
E: Though all that said, part of the point is that capitalism also has some rather bad ideas. Part of being a good advocate for a set of ideology and methodology like capitalism bundles up is being aware of its failings and limitations. And capitalism definitely has some. Do remember that if you're going hard for capitalism you're also defending stuff like the east india company, the business end of banana republics and whatnot, or all the shit businesses get up to environmentally if left unchecked (I'm pretty sure there's still parts of the US that are literally unliveable due to industrial pollutants, decades after the dumping was stopped). There's plenty of nasty shit going on with the stuff, and glossing over it does whoever you're discussing with no more favors than speaking of socialism without acknowledging the major implementation attempts have trended strongly towards bloody atrocity.If you haven't noticed, I'm mostly against short-term profit related stuff like that, so you must have misunderstood me somewhere. It seems that there are significant differences in how different people use the word "capitalism".
"Social democracy" is a good enough term for the purposes. It's actually far closer to what Marx wanted than any dictatorship.I'm not sure if "post-automation society" is all that good, either. For different reason, though - propaganda in capitalist corruption-infested countries have been working pretty tirelessly to make people fear the automation more than they fear working their entire lives on shitty wages, and it has mostly succeeded.
"Post-automation society" could be another useful term, because you can use that to describe Marx's post-capitalist phase in a way that people are going to get. e.g. you can say that "in a post-automation society we're going to have to rethink how we allocate resources in a way that's fair to everyone in society, since wages for labor will be an obsolete idea".
This boils down what Marx said, but without much fear of being misunderstood as wanting to create some sort of retro worker's state.
... also probably worth noting that most proponents of socialism et al are also against the expressions of excess and misuse related to their ideology. If they're not allowed to discard the nasty bits of their ideology you certainly don't get to discard yours, heh.
"Social democracy" is a good enough term for the purposes. It's actually far closer to what Marx wanted than any dictatorship.Citation needed, badly. Not only do Social Democrats not believe in the Revolution, not only are they the nemesis of the Communists - look up 'social fascism' if you're not familiar with the term -, no, they do not even pursue the goals of collectivization of the means of production and abolishment of a Capitalist, market-dominated economy!
"Post-automation society" could be another useful term, because you can use that to describe Marx's post-capitalist phase in a way that people are going to get. e.g. you can say that "in a post-automation society we're going to have to rethink how we allocate resources in a way that's fair to everyone in society, since wages for labor will be an obsolete idea".Heh, MSH slapped me down a couple days ago for claiming precisely that.
This boils down what Marx said, but without much fear of being misunderstood as wanting to create some sort of retro worker's state.
"Social democracy" is a good enough term for the purposes. It's actually far closer to what Marx wanted than any dictatorship.Citation needed, badly. Not only do Social Democrats not believe in the Revolution, not only are they the nemesis of the Communists - look up 'social fascism' if you're not familiar with the term -, no, they do not even pursue the goals of collectivization of the means of production and abolishment of a Capitalist, market-dominated economy!
As Marx continued:
At a certain stage of their development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production, or (and this is simply a legal expression of the same thing), with the property relations within which they have operated up to that time. These relations change from forms of development of the productive forces into their fetters. There then begins an epoch of social revolution.
At the heart of Marxism is the understanding that history's Great Men--its Great Villains, too--and their Great Ideas are the product of the material conditions and social relationships that shape people's lives, not the other way around. Marx called his approach "the materialist conception of history"--"materialist" because it starts with concrete material conditions rather than ideas, "history" because it recognizes that those conditions and the social relationships that spring from them change.
Both Marx and Engels argued that the short-lived Paris Commune, which ran the French capital for over two months before being repressed, was an example of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Between 2002 and 2010 Colombia spent $100 billion on defense. That is an average of $12.5 billion per year. For 2011 the amount is about $11 billion. These investments in the war machine made Colombia’s army among the largest in Latin America, on par with Brazil, and among the 15th largest in the world. Colombia's armed forces including the country's 160,000 police amounted to 463,149 personnel.
Venezuela slashed its defense budget by 34 percent in 2014, marking the largest decline in military spending in all of Latin America. But the dramatic cut in a country with a history of military coups did not generate audible grumbles because the top brass are bought into the socialist country’s system. Venezuela’s military spending is “erratic”, reflecting major hardware purchases. It fell under the $2.6 billion mark in 2010 and 2011, but bounced back to $4 billion in 2012 and 2013, before making a big drop in 2014.
Venezuela’s military spending was among the lowest in South America. Despite claims to the contrary, Venezuela’s military spending is not unusually high.
A tragic milestone went virtually unreported in the English-speaking press last week, as Colombia’s Victims Unit released its report indicating that the number of victims of Colombia’s civil war has now surpassed 7 million. This number includes those who have been killed, disappeared or displaced since 1956. For a country of under 50 million citizens, these numbers are staggering, and certainly newsworthy, but apparently not for our mainstream media.
Of course, the violence and human rights abuses in Colombia have constituted inconvenient truths for the Western media as the U.S. has been a major sponsor of the violence and abuses in that country.
Indeed, a notable fact in the Victims Unit report is that “that the majority of victimization occurred after 2000, peaking in 2002 at 744,799 victims.” It is not coincidental that “Plan Colombia,” or “Plan Washington” as many Colombians have called it, was inaugurated by President Bill Clinton in 2000, thus escalating the conflict to new heights and new levels of barbarity. Plan Colombia is the plan pursuant to which the U.S. has given Colombia over $8 billion of mostly military and police assistance.
Meanwhile, the Bolivarian National Militia in Venezuela, how many people are they accused of killing? If they were accused of any deaths or human rights abuses, you can be sure they would have been mentioned in the article you linked, Teneb.I never said the militia killed anyone, just that they're getting armed by the government. Hell, the article doesn't say it either. It does mention 6 deaths, but says nothing about who killed them.
Principal, a 13-year-old resident of the Ali Primera Socialist City, was shot and killed by opposition protesters after they toppled the main gate of the commune. The city was established by the Bolivarian Revolution in 2014 for low-income citizens.13 year old kid murdered by opposition activists when they attacked a left-wing commune. Also counted as a protest death that Maduro is responsible for.
Syria’s civil war has created the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Half the country’s pre-war population — more than 11 million people — have been killed or forced to flee their homes.
Each year, including pensions and other benefits to military personnel, the Colombian government spends as much as 25% of it's GDP on defense. But this already huge figure only accounts for the immediate costs of the continuation of the war system and does not tell us much about the hidden and more important longer-term effects of the war on the country’s economic and political development.
The Colombian government spends about 1.5% of its GDP on military salaries. If you combine pensions and other benefits to the armed forces these costs would account for 15%-25% of the Colombian GDP.
I read that as budget because I was only considering direct spending. When in fact, this article is talking about total government payments to people for rendering military service. Rather than weakening my point about how militarized Colombia is, you nicely pointed out that it's a lot worse than I was claiming.
The 15% was based on detailed analysis done in the 1990s, and since then the proportion of GDP focused on the military has expanded massively (i.e it's expanded faster than GDP has), as has the sheer number of military personnel. Thus they estimate that the current proportion of GDP allocated for all payments and benefits related to military service has grown higher than the 15% of before, to somewhere close to 25% of the total GDP. Even if you only credit the original 15% GDP spent on military pensions, mil expenditure by itself has risen to around 6% GDP, so that would give you at least 21% of GDP spent on military personnel.
Article 347: " The people of Venezuela are the depositary of the original constituent power. In exercise of this power, it may convene a National Constituent Assembly with the purpose of transforming the State, creating a new legal order and drafting a new Constitution."
Article 348: "The initiative of convening the National Constituent Assembly may be taken by the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly, by agreement of two-thirds of its members, the Municipal Councils in the chapter, through the Vote of two thirds of them, or fifteen percent of registered voters and registered voters in the Civil and Electoral Registry.
Article 349: " The President of the Republic can not object to the new Constitution." The constituted powers can not in any way impede the decisions of the National Constituent Assembly. Once the new Constitution has been promulgated, it will be published in the Official Gazette of The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela or in the Gazette of the National Constituent Assembly ".
Hmm yeah, also the BBC is hardly friendly with Maduro, and if you read their article on the matter, the opposition there actually come off as a bunch of ranting loonies. They're all about hyperbole and hysteria dialed up to 11 no matter what the other guys say or do:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39775092
Is this the fanfiction thread? Is maduro going to declare his love for his sempai next and cause eternal world peace while brandishing a katana at super robots?Chavez-senpai is dead.
Well looking at Turkey's referendum, it basically shifted from a westminster-style parliament more to a US-style presidency. That - by itself - doesn't really mean he's a dictator.
If you look at some of the changes in turkey they weren't all clearly just pushing Erdogan's power:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_constitutional_referendum,_2017#Constitutional_amendments
- The number of seats in the Parliament is raised from 550 to 600.
- Parliamentary terms are extended from four to five years. Parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on the same day every five years, with presidential elections going to a run-off if no candidate wins a simple majority in the first round.
- The age requirement to stand as a candidate in an election to be lowered from 25 to 18, while the condition of having to complete compulsory military service is to be removed. Individuals with relations to the military would be ineligible to run for election.
- The President's ability to declare state of emergency is now subject to parliamentary approval to take effect. The Parliament can extend, remove or shorten it. States of emergency can be extended for up to four months at a time except during war, where no such limitation will be required. Every presidential decree issues during a state of emergency will need an approval of Parliament.
- The acts of the President are now subject to judicial review.
- The President used to appoint one Justice from High Military Court of Appeals, and one from the High Military Administrative Court. As military courts would be abolished, the number of Justices in the Constitutional Court would be reduced to 15 from 17. Consequently, presidential appointees would be reduced to 12 from 14, while the Parliament would continue to appoint three.
- To overcome a presidential veto, the Parliament needs to adopt the same bill with an absolute majority (301).
- Military courts are abolished unless they are erected to investigate actions of soldiers under conditions of war.
- The President becomes both the head of state and head of government, with the power to appoint and sack ministers and Vice President. The president can issue decrees about executive. If legislation makes a law about the same topic that President issued an executive order, decree will become invalid and parliamentary law become valid.
Those are some of the relevant ones, they're all pretty tame stuff compared to e.g. American presidential powers.
Carmona then issued a decree, which came to be known as the Carmona Decree, dissolving the National Assembly and Supreme Court that were filled with Chávez supporters, and voiding the 1999 Constitution. The decree declared that new elections for a "National Legislative Power" would take place no later than December 2002, and that this would draft a general reform of the 1999 constitution; new "general national elections" would take place within a year of the decree's declaration. The decree also suspended the Attorney General, Controller General, state governors and all mayors elected during Chávez's administration. He also suspended the power of other branches of government and dismissed Chávez appointees while forming a new ouncil, most of whose 25 members were Chávez opponents. As one academic and Chavez supporter, Barry Cannon, later put it, "all institutions were abolished leaving the country effectively without the rule of law."
Patients react angrily as opposition is blamed for attacking Cuban doctors, journalists and supermarkets.
...
Angry mobs burned clinics in Valencia and other cities on Monday night and early Tuesday, destroying property and harassing doctors during a melee of political violence that left seven people dead and dozens injured.
Demonstrators also vandalised offices of the governing Socialist Party, the home of Tibisay Lucena, head of Venezuela's election authority and other institutions connected to the state.
The violence follows Sunday's tight presidential election when Socialist Party candidate Nicolas Maduro beat opposition challenger Henrique Capriles by a margin of about 1.5 percent, or less than 300,000 votes.
Seriously you're like a walking example of Poe's law. Next you'll be telling us Hitler was all well and good because he put paid to the German Communist Party.
Seriously you're like a walking example of Poe's law. Next you'll be telling us Hitler was all well and good because he put paid to the German Communist Party.Maduro is an uneducated bus driver who only got to power by being a personal driver for Chavez. He doesn't know how to rule the country, and as a result he ruined Venezuela, turned it into a complete mess by indiscriminate nationalization and heavy-handed governmental interventions. Don't try to shift the blame here - it's Maduro's fault that his country is now starting to rebel against his tyrannical rule. Hopefully he will be deposed swiftly and without too many casualties.
Seriously you're like a walking example of Poe's law. Next you'll be telling us Hitler was all well and good because he put paid to the German Communist Party.Maduro is an uneducated bus driver who only got to power by being a personal driver for Chavez. He doesn't know how to rule the country, and as a result he ruined Venezuela, turned it into a complete mess by indiscriminate nationalization and heavy-handed governmental interventions. Don't try to shift the blame here - it's Maduro's fault that his country is now starting to rebel against his tyrannical rule. Hopefully he will be deposed swiftly and without too many casualties.
Quick question: Why do you capitalize 'Nazi' like that? It's not like it's an acronym. Hell, it's not even a proper shortening - that would've been 'Naso'. Since that doesn't sound cool, but rather like a nose-themed superhero, they just took the first syllables and spelled them wrong.
Maduro is a huge power-hungry moron. But here's the problem: the people opposing him are also power-hungry, and while not morons they don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves (not that Maduro does either).Seriously you're like a walking example of Poe's law. Next you'll be telling us Hitler was all well and good because he put paid to the German Communist Party.Maduro is an uneducated bus driver who only got to power by being a personal driver for Chavez. He doesn't know how to rule the country, and as a result he ruined Venezuela, turned it into a complete mess by indiscriminate nationalization and heavy-handed governmental interventions. Don't try to shift the blame here - it's Maduro's fault that his country is now starting to rebel against his tyrannical rule. Hopefully he will be deposed swiftly and without too many casualties.
Quick question: Why do you capitalize 'Nazi' like that? It's not like it's an acronym. Hell, it's not even a proper shortening - that would've been 'Naso'. Since that doesn't sound cool, but rather like a nose-themed superhero, they just took the first syllables and spelled them wrong.
A quick lookup suggests that "Nazi" is shortened from the German name of the National Socialist German Workers' party, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei". Not quite sure why the shortened it like that, though.
Nazi sounds better and catchier than NDA. Memes aren't just fun and games.Quick question: Why do you capitalize 'Nazi' like that? It's not like it's an acronym. Hell, it's not even a proper shortening - that would've been 'Naso'. Since that doesn't sound cool, but rather like a nose-themed superhero, they just took the first syllables and spelled them wrong.
A quick lookup suggests that "Nazi" is shortened from the German name of the National Socialist German Workers' party, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei". Not quite sure why the shortened it like that, though.
My guess would be that the term started exclusively as spoken slang, with the eventual written spelling imitating the slang phonetically rather than using the spelling of the original phrase.
Maduro is a huge power-hungry moron. But here's the problem: the people opposing him are also power-hungry, and while not morons they don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves (not that Maduro does either).Seriously you're like a walking example of Poe's law. Next you'll be telling us Hitler was all well and good because he put paid to the German Communist Party.Maduro is an uneducated bus driver who only got to power by being a personal driver for Chavez. He doesn't know how to rule the country, and as a result he ruined Venezuela, turned it into a complete mess by indiscriminate nationalization and heavy-handed governmental interventions. Don't try to shift the blame here - it's Maduro's fault that his country is now starting to rebel against his tyrannical rule. Hopefully he will be deposed swiftly and without too many casualties.
I know you are firmly in the camp of neo-liberal capitalism and don't really mind that, but this is not a conflict between capitalism and communism. This is a conflict between a sycophant-turned-leader and oligarchs.
External intervention is also not going to work either. If the US intervenes, everyone in the continent will, with reason, be extremely pissed off. Last time the US decided to mess around in South America... well, just do some research on Plan Condor. Fortunately, Trump leans towards isolationism. If anyone else in SA intervenes, they'll either prop up one side as their puppet, try to put in a third puppet of their own, or maybe even an insane attempt at outright conquest/submission if it is Colombia.
Maduro is a huge power-hungry moron. But here's the problem: the people opposing him are also power-hungry, and while not morons they don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves (not that Maduro does either).Yeah, though remember Maduro isn't just one dude, the PSUV party's membership is around 7.5 million people (now over 8 million according to a 2016 FOX news article), or about a third of the entire population of Venezuela are voting members of Maduro's party. The scale of these organizations is sort of lost in the personality politics as portrayed in the media.
I know you are firmly in the camp of neo-liberal capitalism and don't really mind that, but this is not a conflict between capitalism and communism. This is a conflict between a sycophant-turned-leader and oligarchs.
External intervention is also not going to work either. If the US intervenes, everyone in the continent will, with reason, be extremely pissed off. Last time the US decided to mess around in South America... well, just do some research on Plan Condor. Fortunately, Trump leans towards isolationism. If anyone else in SA intervenes, they'll either prop up one side as their puppet, try to put in a third puppet of their own, or maybe even an insane attempt at outright conquest/submission if it is Colombia.
Late response, but if the situation is the same as in USSR, the overwhelming majority of these so-called "party members" are in there only for the money and power, and will scurry out the moment it stops providing them with so. There was no civil war during the USSR/Warsaw pack breakup, because the communists' vaunted numbers are full of shit and there actually aren't very many people who would support them, they're just experts at maintaining an illusion of that.Maduro is a huge power-hungry moron. But here's the problem: the people opposing him are also power-hungry, and while not morons they don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves (not that Maduro does either).Yeah, though remember Maduro isn't just one dude, the PSUV party's membership is around 7.5 million people (now over 8 million according to a 2016 FOX news article), or about a third of the entire population of Venezuela are voting members of Maduro's party. The scale of these organizations is sort of lost in the personality politics as portrayed in the media.
I know you are firmly in the camp of neo-liberal capitalism and don't really mind that, but this is not a conflict between capitalism and communism. This is a conflict between a sycophant-turned-leader and oligarchs.
External intervention is also not going to work either. If the US intervenes, everyone in the continent will, with reason, be extremely pissed off. Last time the US decided to mess around in South America... well, just do some research on Plan Condor. Fortunately, Trump leans towards isolationism. If anyone else in SA intervenes, they'll either prop up one side as their puppet, try to put in a third puppet of their own, or maybe even an insane attempt at outright conquest/submission if it is Colombia.
Completely squashing that would in fact be a civil war, and I think it's likely that a new government will attempt to completely crush the PSUV and everything connected to them. Which since they are 1/3rd of the entire population, is a lot of things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Socialist_Party_of_Venezuela
Brazillll. Wtf.........You mean the same US who enabled and supported various brutal regimes?
Bad South American antics makes your North American cousins (including the US) sad....
Brazillll. Wtf.........
Bad South American antics makes your North American cousins (including the US) sad....
Quick question: Why do you capitalize 'Nazi' like that? It's not like it's an acronym. Hell, it's not even a proper shortening - that would've been 'Naso'. Since that doesn't sound cool, but rather like a nose-themed superhero, they just took the first syllables and spelled them wrong.
A quick lookup suggests that "Nazi" is shortened from the German name of the National Socialist German Workers' party, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei". Not quite sure why the shortened it like that, though.
In the month of March, 2016 alone, 30 individuals have been assassinated by paramilitary groups. Of these, “14 were community and political activists and 16 assassinated in the context of ‘social cleansing’ operations by paramilitary groups.” In addition, on April 1, 2016, prominent human rights leader and former senator, Piedad Cordoba, barely survived an assassination attempt by paramilitaries in the Afro-Colombian town of Quibdo. Again, these are not the random acts of “criminal gangs” as Colombian and U.S. authorities would have us believe.
FTFY. We're not filthy collectivizing assholes, we're well-groomed reformist assholes!Quick question: Why do you capitalize 'Nazi' like that? It's not like it's an acronym. Hell, it's not even a proper shortening - that would've been 'Naso'. Since that doesn't sound cool, but rather like a nose-themed superhero, they just took the first syllables and spelled them wrong.
A quick lookup suggests that "Nazi" is shortened from the German name of the National Socialist German Workers' party, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei". Not quite sure why the shortened it like that, though.
I seem to recall being taught that it's because the Social Democrat party was nicknamed the Sozis, so the National Socialists were referred to as "Nazis" when they showed up.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/05/535653007/violence-breaks-out-at-venezuelas-national-assembly
Well that's a thing. Certainly guaranteed to make the Venezuelan version of c-span more interesting.
Pro-government here means pro-president. Maduro and the congress are at odds.http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/05/535653007/violence-breaks-out-at-venezuelas-national-assembly
Well that's a thing. Certainly guaranteed to make the Venezuelan version of c-span more interesting.
I'm a bit confused, pro-government protestirs attacking the Venezuelan Parliament (well, the legislative wing) seems rather anti-government. Apparently, just before the attack, the VP made an unannounced visit and urged supporters to show their support... and that appears to be exactly what happened here. Just goes to show how high the tensions are there.
I completely missed that, whoops.Dunno However, Portugal says El Pais is "not truthful," EU member states have yet to address the matter collectively, they don't oppose sanctions, and they'll follow the EU lead (https://econews.pt/2017/07/19/portugal-states-they-do-not-oppose-sanctions-to-venezuela/).
Did Portugal give any specific reason? The article doesn't give one, other than stating 'Portugal clearly opposes it'.
The President of Columbia, Venezuela's neighbor, has upped the ante by saying that he and his government won't recognize tomorrow's vote as it 'lacks legitimacy'. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40759887) I assume that this applies to a yes vote as not recognizing a no vote seems a bit silly.It's Colombia, you savage. This was pretty much expected since both countries hate each other for a ton of reasons.
It'll definetly be something closely watched to see what happens.
The President of Columbia, Venezuela's neighbor, has upped the ante by saying that he and his government won't recognize tomorrow's vote as it 'lacks legitimacy'. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40759887) I assume that this applies to a yes vote as not recognizing a no vote seems a bit silly.It's Colombia, you savage.
It'll definetly be something closely watched to see what happens.
This was pretty much expected since both countries hate each other for a ton of reasons.
I have family in Colombia, they are embracing themselves for a Venezuelan Refugee wave. Also Maduro is supporting terrorist attacks in the north in an attempt to try and force a military intervention from Colombia into Venezuela as a distraction from the economic collapse.
"It is a civic and military action meant to reestablish the constitutional order and, more importantly, to save the country from its total destruction and to keep our young people and families from being murdered," he said."Pretty much every justification for a military coup ever. He even used the "Think of the children!" card. Also, murdered? Maduro may be scum, but his forces haven't been going around doing mass murder.
"It is a civic and military action meant to reestablish the constitutional order and, more importantly, to save the country from its total destruction and to keep our young people and families from being murdered," he said."Pretty much every justification for a military coup ever. He even used the "Think of the children!" card. Also, murdered? Maduro may be scum, but his forces haven't been going around doing mass murder.
It reminds me a bit of ~2011 when there were a ton of uprising in the middle east. Depending on how things go, we could see results like Egypt (iirc not much of a change in the end) or Syria (massive civil war) or Libya (the country fell apart).
It happened a few days ago, but I simply couldn't find it english (someone please post it if you do find it), but Venezuela has been kicked from Mercosul (https://globoplay.globo.com/v/6058232/). Don't know about Unasul, but I am guessing it too.
Peru has even kicked out their ambassador (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40906290).
To no one's surprise, Maduro's constitutional assembly (rough translation, I have no idea what it should be called in english) has ratified him as president. (http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/assembleia-constituinte-da-venezuela-ratifica-maduro-como-presidente.ghtml) Also not in english because can't find.
As for an intervention, that would be a clusterfuck of incredible proportions. And it would make every single country in South America except Colombia incredibly pissed off because that is Too Close.
As if the situation wasn't fucked enough.Just because things are already fucked does not mean that they cannot become more fucked. The maximum potential for fuckedness is practically infinite.
To no one's surprise, Maduro's constitutional assembly (rough translation, I have no idea what it should be called in english) has ratified him as president. (http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/assembleia-constituinte-da-venezuela-ratifica-maduro-como-presidente.ghtml) Also not in english because can't find.
As if the situation wasn't fucked enough.Just because things are already fucked does not mean that they cannot become more fucked. The maximum potential for fuckedness is practically infinite.
To no one's surprise, Maduro's constitutional assembly (rough translation, I have no idea what it should be called in english) has ratified him as president. (http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/assembleia-constituinte-da-venezuela-ratifica-maduro-como-presidente.ghtml) Also not in english because can't find.
Pretty sure 'constituent' is the correct english translation in this context (=National Constituent Assembly).
As if the situation wasn't fucked enough.Just because things are already fucked does not mean that they cannot become more fucked. The maximum potential for fuckedness is practically infinite.
Yeah, although Maduro is looking worse by the day the real question is who, if anyone, is a better replacement. Certainly the major opposition figures don't cut it; nor would an american puppet. Thoughts? Luisa Ortega is the only one who springs to mind in my vast distance.
So, remember how people opposed Clinton because she was the warmonger?Trump being a warmonger doesn't make Clinton not one, you know.
So, remember how people opposed Clinton because she was the warmonger?Trump being a warmonger doesn't make Clinton not one, you know.
For the record: I dislike them both equally, but Trump is more likely to run the USA into the ground and provide me with sweet catharsis. So there's that.
So, remember how people opposed Clinton because she was the warmonger?Trump being a warmonger doesn't make Clinton not one, you know.
For the record: I dislike them both equally, but Trump is more likely to run the USA into the ground and provide me with sweet catharsis. So there's that.
The former Colombian rebel group has adopted a new name and symbol as they transition to a political party, kept the acronym though. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41119001)Spoiler: Their new flag (click to show/hide)
Opinions? They could probably have changed the acronym since the acronym still has the baggage of it's past.
Ah yes, I think I've found all the polo cal threads now, all the threads that matter at any rate.
Ah yes, I think I've found all the polo cal threads now, all the threads that matter at any rate.
Even the Elusive East Asian Thread?
Can't we rebrand it as LOLMeripol, under new LW management?Only when the UK own British Guyana again.
Brazil's army says it's dispatching nearly 1,000 troops to the country's largest shanty-town – or "favela" – in the hope of ending a wave of deadly violence that began nearly one week ago.
This afternoon military trucks carrying soldiers brandishing assault weapons began rumbling up to the edge of Rocinha, a sprawl of tumble-down hillside homes, shops, narrow streets and tiny alleys in the south of Rio de Janeiro.
Trouble erupted within the favela early last Sunday, with a five-hour firefight during which residents say they were forced to dive for cover on the floors of their homes as several hundred well-armed gangsters roamed the streets.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/22/553050477/soldiers-descend-on-rio-favela-as-shootouts-eruptYeah, been seeing it in the news. State is broken because the previous governor was extremely corrupt and the previous mayor trying to use the Olympics to propel himself further in his political ambitions. No money means no money for security. Which means an increase in crime. And the extremely unpopular president is using the army to secure the region to improve his abysmal popularity.QuoteBrazil's army says it's dispatching nearly 1,000 troops to the country's largest shanty-town – or "favela" – in the hope of ending a wave of deadly violence that began nearly one week ago.
This afternoon military trucks carrying soldiers brandishing assault weapons began rumbling up to the edge of Rocinha, a sprawl of tumble-down hillside homes, shops, narrow streets and tiny alleys in the south of Rio de Janeiro.
Trouble erupted within the favela early last Sunday, with a five-hour firefight during which residents say they were forced to dive for cover on the floors of their homes as several hundred well-armed gangsters roamed the streets.
I got a laugh out of this, the three southernmost Brazillian states are chest beating over secession threat. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41541063) From the article, it sounds like it's taken as seriously as secession threats are here in the US (that is, not seriously. Though for a bit it looked like California might actually go through with it.) since it's forbidden by the constitution and those southern states have made noise about it many times before. Kind of seems to be a method of venting as it is here in the US since it obviously isn't going to happen. Then again, the government in Brazil is in a pretty bad shape right now.It's kind of weird because only the southernmost one, Rio Grande do Sul, had actually tried to secede before, leading to a civil war in the region. Paraná and Santa Catarina have always been kind of quiet on that front. I expect secessionist movement to be practically nil in those two. It's not a new thing for the Gaúchos (Natives of RS) to try to vote themselves into independence. It just gets ignored and that is that.
Going into speculative mode, if those three states actually were to secede (and assumingly form into one state), I wonder how much danger they'd be in from being invaded (or otherwise bullied around by) Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Obviously, this assumes Brazil doesn't get to them first.
the last time Paraguay tried to attack them like half the country was killed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguayan_War
“The Post’s views,” such as post-critics director Larry Birns, Mills, Pineo counter-editorial observe, “appear to have been formed by uncritically accepting all of the propaganda offered up by the right-wing opposition press in Venezuela.”
Meanwhile, the very day after the Interpol report received so much news coverage .. the website of the Colombian magazine Semana reported that hard drives and mobile-phone SIM cards belonging to high-level paramilitary leaders extradited to the United States on drug-trafficking charges, had been lost. Hardware belonging to three paramilitary leaders disappeared and was never recovered. Information taken from the laptop of one of the paramilitary bosses, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo a.k.a. Jorge 40, sparked the so-called paramilitary-political scandal in spring 2006, eventually leading to the jailing of more than 30 of Uribe’s parliamentary allies, including Mario Uribe, his cousin, on charges of colluding with narco-paramilitaries.
South America getting little, and selective at that, coverage in the US isn't news.Ah my friend, but it should be not everyone actually knows that the bias is that bad...
Caracas, October 16, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Latin American Council of Electoral Experts (CEELA) has confirmed that Sunday’s vote in Venezuelan gubernatorial elections was clean and transparent.
“The vote took place peacefully and without problems… the vote reflects the will of [Venezuelan] citizens,” declared CEELA President Nicanor Moscoso during a press conference Monday morning.
The CEELA delegation was comprised of 1300 international observers, including former Colombian Electoral Court President Guillermo Reyes, ex-president of the Honduran Supreme Electoral Court, Augusto Aguilar, and former Peruvian electoral magistrate Gastón Soto.
The MUD has accused the National Electoral Council of attempting to suppress opposition turnout by relocating 334 voting centers previously targeted by anti-government violence during July 30’s National Constituent Assembly Elections.
The results have, however, been rejected by the MUD, which has alleged “fraud” and called on its supporters to take to the streets in protest.
Falcon lost by a 17-point margin to socialist party challenger Carmen Melendez, who successfully channeled popular discontent towards the governor’s support for violent anti-government protests earlier this year.
Speaking Tuesday, President Nicolas Maduro thanked Falcon for his posture and raised the possibility of naming him as ambassador to Colombia.
“I thank Henri Falcon for all of his efforts… Maybe Henri Falcon can be named to a government post, ambassador perhaps, in Colombia could be,” he stated.
Former MUD Secretary General Jesus “Chuo” Torrealba took aim at the coalition’s leadership for failing to present evidence of alleged irregularities.
“The MUD’s declaration worries me because it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“It’s not about whether or not you believe the results. The opposition has witnesses at all the voting machines and has a copy of each one of these vote tallies. What they have to say is, ‘Here I have the tallies, and what I have here doesn’t match the results,’” he continued.
The MUD has demanded a full audit of Sunday’s vote, a call that was previously made by President Nicolas Maduro.
It would seem nobody is popular in South America, but then I remembered to check Bolivia's Evo Morales, and he's sitting at 75% (http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-bolivia-election-20160222-story.html). Which considering that he's managed to grow the economy at a steady 5% the entire 12 years he's been president is understandable. He's also one of those filthy socialists however, so cognitive dissonance there. If merely being a socialist tanks economies then they need to explain Bolivia.
Argentina loses contact with submarine at sea. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/argentine-navy-loses-contact-with-submarine/2017/11/17/e1172932-cba6-11e7-b506-8a10ed11ecf5_story.html?utm_term=.96772006abcf)
Could be just a communications problem, could be something worse. There's really no way to tell at this point, but I will note that that submarine is an old boat(bought in 1985, iirc), and that the Argentinian Navy has had a lot of maintenance issues in the past.
One thing people need to understand about Evo Morales' popularity is that he is is the first indigenous president of the country. The indigenous population of Bolivia also tends towards xenophobia towards those not of that cultural group. Further boosting his popularity is, of course, his actions to make Bolivia less of a complete shithole and having an anti-USA stance. One of the easiest ways to get popular support in South America (unless you are in Colombia, in which case it's political suicide) is to take stances and measures that (or at least appear to) weaken the grasp of USA imperialism on the country.It would seem nobody is popular in South America, but then I remembered to check Bolivia's Evo Morales, and he's sitting at 75% (http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-bolivia-election-20160222-story.html). Which considering that he's managed to grow the economy at a steady 5% the entire 12 years he's been president is understandable. He's also one of those filthy socialists however, so cognitive dissonance there. If merely being a socialist tanks economies then they need to explain Bolivia.
Well Bolivia in first place is a shit hole*. It is the poorest Latin American country after Haiti, and we are talking African Hell levels of poverty when we talk about Haiti. ANYTHING positive the government does in a place so poor will get instant positive results. And despite being a socialist in name, Evo Morales took many market-oriented policies and is usually very pragmatic, governing with what just works instead of following ideologies that work only in the mind of rebelious youngsters.
*I never went there but lived in a work camp abroad with about 500 bolivians from all walks of life for four years.
I don't think US imperialism is as severe in South America as it used to be, say 50 years ago. Though granted, we still see South America as being in our sphere of influence and ours alone and see it as our personal backyard from time to time, despite mostly ignoring South America.Yeah, it's not as bad as it used to be back in the days of US-backed dictatorships, but 'staters are still seen as an acceptable target (it is very rapidly being dropped in Brazil for a Left vs Right split).
I don't think US imperialism is as severe in South America as it used to be, say 50 years ago. Though granted, we still see South America as being in our sphere of influence and ours alone and see it as our personal backyard from time to time, despite mostly ignoring South America.
You mean left wing, the Republicans are right wing and FARC are communists/socialists which is left wing.No, Reelya is saying that the Republicans are propping up people who are Hitler-tier bad, rather than propping them up as being Literal Hitlers.
You mean left wing, the Republicans are right wing and FARC are communists/socialists which is left wing.
- NOTE: this stuff is why I can legitimately say they are "hitler level" bad. Pro-government assassin squads straight up murdering the political opposition. Squads made up of insane chainsaw murderers at that.That's not Hitler-level bad, that's just Stalin-level bad. Hitler-level bad is qualitatively worse.
- NOTE: this stuff is why I can legitimately say they are "hitler level" bad. Pro-government assassin squads straight up murdering the political opposition. Squads made up of insane chainsaw murderers at that.That's not Hitler-level bad, that's just Stalin-level bad. Hitler-level bad is qualitatively worse.
Between 2000 and 2010 Colombia accounted for 63.12% of trade unionists murdered globally.Seriously, they win the "murdering trade unionists" world cup.
For its part, HRW notes that at least 44 alleged extrajudicial killings were carried out by the Fourth Brigade under the leadership of General Montoya (who then later became the army’s top commander), while at least 48 alleged false positive killings were carried out by the Ninth Brigade under the leadership of General Lasprilla Villamizar.
Okay, the 'killing young people' thing is more like Mao. But apart from that - yeah, it all sounds like early Soviet Union stuff.
You gotta remember: The terrifying, qualitatively different thing about the Nazis is not the scale of the killing. It is that they killed not for material reasons, but for abstract ones - selecting for qualities that neither their victims nor society as a whole was necessarily aware of, and that were intrinsic to their victims, i.e. could not be changed at all. They slaughtered people for reasons that were essentially aesthetic, not political.
He also referenced the Catalan independence referendum last year as an another case of Russian meddling.Noone outside the Popular Party in Spain has actually defended the factuality of this.
\/O\/
More like Trump's same rhetoric of 'we will make other countries respect us again and put them in their place!', except applied to Trump and respecting Trump at the same time. Basically playing Trump at his own game while at the same time, not playing Trump at his own game.
Or TL;DR: "We're going to teach Trump to respect us, BUT, we will respect him first."
\/O\/
More like Trump's same rhetoric of 'we will make other countries respect us again and put them in their place!', except applied to Trump and respecting Trump at the same time. Basically playing Trump at his own game while at the same time, not playing Trump at his own game.
Or TL;DR: "We're going to teach Trump to respect us, BUT, we will respect him first."
Hardly surprising. It's funny how populist all forgets that other countries also have electorates, and expect them to take abuse without flinching.
AMERICANS are returning from Cuba with strange symptoms, including hearing loss and brain abnormalities, prompting suggestions the island nation is “attacking” Americans.
Almost two dozen Americans who travelled to Cuba have reported experiencing similar symptoms to those suffered by US diplomats serving at the American Embassy, Fox News reports.
...
At least 24 US Embassy officials in Cuba had reported hearing loud, grating noises before experiencing ear issues, hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping.
Doctors reportedly discovered the diplomats suffered from brain abnormalities, as the white matter in their brains had “developed changes”.
The US has stood by their allegations that Cuba in some way deliberately attacked the American officials — which Cuba has adamantly denied — and earlier this month raised the possibility that a virus was deployed intentionally to infect workers.
On March 2009, the party's national coordinator Julio Borges said, "Venezuela lives under state capitalism, not socialism".[5] The party's economic position is so-called "properties democratization," similar to a social market economy. In the 2012 presidential election, Henrique Capriles described himself as humanist and progressive.
We, militants of the Venezuelan Progressive Movement, aware that the fundamental enemy of today's Venezuelans is poverty and social injustice , believe that the model of development to defeat these scourges is that which provides social progress. be built through a mixed economy where the state is the owner of the basic basic industries, managed with appropriate management and technical criteria, and distributed, but at the same time, the State must guarantee clear rules to private initiative and legal guarantees in the long term with the purpose of promoting it.
This past December, Venezuela’s ANC approved a decree requiring the three largest opposition parties to renew themselves with the CNE following their controversial decision to boycott December 10 municipal elections.
AD, First Justice, and the Popular Will party together with the Union and Understanding Party (Puente) and Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) opposition umbrella party were required to prove they have the support of at least 0.5 percent of registered voters in 12 states.
Maduro gets flack for not investing more in oil from the international media. But they also blame him for the economy being too oil-dependent. Basically, you can't read anything into that because they've set up a damned if you do / damned if you don't narrative. It's therefore completely speculative.
To put the oil price issue in perspective, oil revenues makes up 50% of GDP. And the price halved. That means they had a near-instananeous drop of 25% of GDP.
How could you actually blame someone's domestic policies for "causing a recession" in those circumstances? Scale-wise it's equivalent to almost $5 trillion being wiped off the GDP of the USA.
Maduro gets flack for not investing more in oil from the international media. But they also blame him for the economy being too oil-dependent. Basically, you can't read anything into that because they've set up a damned if you do / damned if you don't narrative. It's therefore completely speculative.Well, obviously it was all his and Chavez's fault for being such socialist wretches! If only Venezuela was in the hands of right-thinking captains of industry, this would never have happened! /s
To put the oil price issue in perspective, oil revenues makes up 50% of GDP. And the price halved. That means they had a near-instananeous drop of 25% of GDP.
How could you actually blame someone's domestic policies for "causing a recession" in those circumstances? Scale-wise it's equivalent to almost $5 trillion being wiped off the GDP of the USA.
Given that hindsight is 20/20, I'm sure there are things that could have been done that didn't make things worse after the recession (more like a Great Depression by now for Venezuelans) started.
Oh no guys, it is just some dictatorship apologist
The IMF is based in Washington DC.
If you read up about them, they're basically a cold-war front organization for USA and Britain, that tries to get countries to abolish sovereignty and let multinational corporations buy up everything in your nation.
IMF "loans" always come with strings attached, like forcing you to privatize the water and hospitals and stuff. They're basically a front for right-wing neoliberal multinationals to get access to poor country's wealth.Oh no guys, it is just some dictatorship apologist
They have elections, and those elections have international monitors. Other parties run for office, and win governorships, have mayors, senators etc. That's not a dictatorship. There are multiple parties and private media that aren't pro-government. Which part is a dictatorship?
The paper gently called out a “neoliberal agenda” for pushing deregulation on economies around the world, for forcing open national markets to trade and capital, and for demanding that governments shrink themselves via austerity or privatisation. The authors cited statistical evidence for the spread of neoliberal policies since 1980, and their correlation with anaemic growth, boom-and-bust cycles and inequality.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/fear-of-violence-hangs-over-venezuela-assembly-election
the prosecutor’s office confirmed at least six people were killed by gunfire, including one national guardsman. Seven policemen were wounded in an explosion in the opposition stronghold neighbourhood of Altamira.
Hundreds of people mobbed some supermarkets on Saturday after authorities promised price cuts.
Venezuela's economy has been heavily affected by the drop in oil prices.
Also, has that amount of projected inflation with that speed ever actually happened in history? Like ever? I know Germany had problems after WWII (or was it WWI?) with their money becoming practically useless for a time, but I don't know the specifics behind that.A quick check of Wikipedia suggests it's very rare but not unheard of. The tricky part is that when things get that bad, they usually spiral completely out of control, as with the Weimar Republic's 30,000% inflation rate after WWI or the absurd fiasco with Zimbabwe trying to print their troubles away. Hitting and then staying at 4500% inflation over a few years would be oddly balanced between catastrophe and restraint.
Right-wing and NeoLiberal are two things that I don't think would ever go together.they go together all the time. Especially in the US. The Republicans are neoliberal incarnate.
Maybe not so much 'liberalizing' than 'being sensible'.Hopefully so, much to often liberalizing seems to mean neoliberalizing which does the opposite of help.
The UN refugee council pleads that countries should allow Venezuelans access to official refugee procedures (instead of regarding them as economic migrants).Brazil already considers them to be refugees. Hell, there are cities in Roraima (state with the most accessible (by virtue of there being towns at it instead of endless expanses of death-jungles) Venezuelan border) where half the population is Venezuelan. Also entire populations of amerindians are also migrating south while plagued by STDs because they got fucked by pretty much every person in power up north. No such thing as restricting access to our territory as far as I could find.
World Food Program director Beasley calls upon the world to donate money to Colombia, so they can provide food and shelter for the refugees.Fuck this, though. The refugees won't see a single cent of that money being used for their benefit if countries are stupid enough to hand free cash to Colombia.
Why don't the other countries in South America stage some kind of intervention? I'd get it if Colombia doesn't due to their past with Venezuela, but still.Pretty much only Colombia, Brazil and Argentina have the means to do so, and Colombia only barely. As you said yourself, Colombia and Venezuela do not get along; them intervening would likely be even worse. Argentina is too far away. Brasil, meanwhile? Well, we are not only stuck with literally the least popular leader we've ever had (Temer), who is less popular than the military dictators were right after said dictatorship ended, but we're also on the eve of what is likely to be the most cuthroat and heated election we've ever had. I'm actually going to be posting a lot about it as soon as all candidates are 100% confirmed, because right now things can shift and some are still stepping forth.
but we're also on the eve of what is likely to be the most cuthroat and heated election we've ever had.Shit, no kidding. Marielle Franco, city councillor of Rio de Janeiro, politician human rights activist, and feminist was shot dead in the streets yesterday.
Why don't the other countries in South America stage some kind of intervention? I'd get it if Colombia doesn't due to their past with Venezuela, but still.Pretty much only Colombia, Brazil and Argentina have the means to do so, and Colombia only barely. As you said yourself, Colombia and Venezuela do not get along; them intervening would likely be even worse. Argentina is too far away. Brasil, meanwhile? Well, we are not only stuck with literally the least popular leader we've ever had (Temer), who is less popular than the military dictators were right after said dictatorship ended, but we're also on the eve of what is likely to be the most cuthroat and heated election we've ever had. I'm actually going to be posting a lot about it as soon as all candidates are 100% confirmed, because right now things can shift and some are still stepping forth.
To be quite cynically honest, I only expect something to happen if oil stops flowing out of Venezuela.
Yeah. Likely a militia reprisal, considering she was big against those.but we're also on the eve of what is likely to be the most cuthroat and heated election we've ever had.Shit, no kidding. Marielle Franco, city councillor of Rio de Janeiro, politician human rights activist, and feminist was shot dead in the streets yesterday.
Does that not qualify as "flashy and public"?The aftermath? Sure. But it was a quick and pragmatic hit, not drawn out.
but we're also on the eve of what is likely to be the most cuthroat and heated election we've ever had.Shit, no kidding. Marielle Franco, city councillor of Rio de Janeiro, politician human rights activist, and feminist was shot dead in the streets yesterday.
It's almost like South-America is having it's own Arab spring. Let's hope IS doesn't take advantage and settles somewhere where it has a land connection to the US.
There is mounting evidence that many senior army officers bear responsibility. Yet the army officials in charge at the time of the killings have escaped justice and even ascended to the top of the military command, including the current heads of the army and armed forces, according to Vivanco.
As the Maoists surge towards victory ... There are many ways to interpret what is going on. ... the Nepali electorate ... cannily thought of a way to prevent the former rebels going back to conflict.
This last point is also relevant to e.g. coverage of Venezuela. Almost all the opposition parties to Maduro are also members of Socialist International, which puts them further left than any party in the US and UK, with the single exception of the UK's Social Democratic and Labour Party. Basically, when one socialist party loses to another socialist party, the right-wing corporate media hails it as a rejection of socialism, while conveniently omitting to mention who actually won.
SOCIAL CLUBS!? WHERE!?
The protesters and some of the journalists covering the demonstration were set upon by men wearing motorcycle helmets who beat them with metal pipes and electric cables. Some local media said those beating up the protesters were part of pro-government gangs and were wearing T-shirts with pro-government slogans.
After 11 dead (according to the government, or 25 dead and 43 disappeared, according to human rights organisations), Nicaraguan president Ortega has given in to the demands of the protestors, and scrapped the new proposed laws to decrease pensions and social support funding.
The changes were aimed at boosting Nicaragua's troubled social security system, which has been running on a deficit.
Pensioners would have had to pay 5% of their pensions into a fund for medical expenses.
Employees would have had to contribute a larger chunk of their salary towards social security - 7% instead of the current 6.25%. And employers, too, would have had to pay more money into the social security pot.
maybe it's the local equivalent of Daily Mail or something. Could translate as "folks ranting"
https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/nicaragua-trekt-omstreden-wetgeving-in-na-grootste-rellen-in-jaren~a4595079/ (https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/nicaragua-trekt-omstreden-wetgeving-in-na-grootste-rellen-in-jaren~a4595079/)After 11 dead (according to the government, or 25 dead and 43 disappeared, according to human rights organisations), Nicaraguan president Ortega has given in to the demands of the protestors, and scrapped the new proposed laws to decrease pensions and social support funding.
this is also bullshit.
BBC:QuoteThe changes were aimed at boosting Nicaragua's troubled social security system, which has been running on a deficit.
Pensioners would have had to pay 5% of their pensions into a fund for medical expenses.
Employees would have had to contribute a larger chunk of their salary towards social security - 7% instead of the current 6.25%. And employers, too, would have had to pay more money into the social security pot.
There were no cuts to social spending, the change was to increase the amount saved into social security accounts. Where are you reading your sources martinez? A couple of times now I've noted you repeated some fairly right-wing sounding claims that don't match up with other sources. At least link your sources because making inflammatory claims but without the benefit of the actual links is damaging to having a free and fair debate of the issues.
e.g. pensions stayed the same, not decreased, but part of it would go into a medical fund. And a little more of wages, 0.75% would go into retirement savings. These are modest changes, of the type that provide the type of social security that places like e.g. the Netherlands take for granted.
it's completely misleading to characterize them as Ortega acting to "decrease pensions and social support funding."
Krant is just dutch for "newspaper". It's one of the biggest mainstream papers in the Netherlands. Think NYTimes, not NYPost.This. On the political right-left spectrum, they'd be the equivalent of the NYT. They even exchange guest columnists with the NYT regularily.
Same for the increase in wage tax to fix a deficit in social spending. Would make sense if it was an income-related tax, but this way, the poor are affected disproportionally. Fixing a deficit in social support spending by indiscriminately increasing worker taxes =/= boosting social support structures
Something can be said for increasing employer taxes. As long as you don't hurt business so much that they need to fire people or decrease wages, because then you're only making the group that needs social support larger.
During this 1970s period, Nicaragua had one of the worst life expectancies at birth and one of the highest levels of infant mortality in the regional area. ... Only 25% of the total health budget was controlled by the Ministry of Health, and 90% of the services went to 10% of the population
After the 1979 Revolution, the new government established a new Unified National Health System that instated the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MINSA) at the head of health services throughout the nation. This system also integrated the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS) under MINSA's direction in order to make it financially feasible to provide a single national health service available to all Nicaraguan citizens, regardless of socioeconomic background. With the combination of these institutions, the INSS hospitals and clinics, previously only accessible to insured employees, then opened their doors to the larger population.
Whew, that was a pretty long write.
So the candidates are the rich, the ludicrously rich, the militiarists and the irrelevantYou forgot the marxist-troskyists.
So if I'm understanding the electoral rules correctly, the two candidates with the most votes will move on to the second round? (assuming no majority)Pretty much.
Do candidates normally drop outIt's happened before, but the ones who were going to drop out have already done so.
or is there tons of strategic voting anyway where everyone knows the 2-3 possibilities for the second round?There have been some surprises before. This one will be pretty cutthroat.
So if I'm understanding the electoral rules correctly, the two candidates with the most votes will move on to the second round? (assuming no majority)Didnt that happen in France not too long ago?
I'm just curious if it's possible that you might end up with a choice exclusively between a priest of mammon or a cheeto fascist if the crowd is split badly enough. Do candidates normally drop out, or is there tons of strategic voting anyway where everyone knows the 2-3 possibilities for the second round?
So if I'm understanding the electoral rules correctly, the two candidates with the most votes will move on to the second round? (assuming no majority)Didnt that happen in France not too long ago?
I'm just curious if it's possible that you might end up with a choice exclusively between a priest of mammon or a cheeto fascist if the crowd is split badly enough. Do candidates normally drop out, or is there tons of strategic voting anyway where everyone knows the 2-3 possibilities for the second round?
Hope you guys enjoy the incineration of irreplaceable relics of human and natural history because 20 million artefacts just caught fire in Brazil's national museum (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668)Shit, that's awful... Hopefully there were at least a few things that survived the fire, and at least nobody died, but still... Damn.
A very few things did. The biggest was the meteorite by virtue of being a meteorite and thus not flammable.Hope you guys enjoy the incineration of irreplaceable relics of human and natural history because 20 million artefacts just caught fire in Brazil's national museum (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668)Shit, that's awful... Hopefully there were at least a few things that survived the fire, and at least nobody died, but still... Damn.
Prof Paulo Buckup, an expert in fish science at the museum, arrived at 19:30 (22:30 GMT) local time to find parts of the building where animal specimens were kept still intact.Entire generations worth of work lost in one night, millions of years of history gone. It's a miracle the emergency response teams managed to salvage anything at all
"It's unfortunate but the firefighters were not in a position to do anything, to fight anything," he told BBC Brasil's Julia Carneiro.
"They had no water, no ladders, no equipment.
"So we took the initiative to get in to try and save what we could. We had to break down doors. The soldiers helped us carry things."
Prof Buckup rushed into the burning building to save as much of its extensive collection of molluscs as he could, rescuing "a few thousand" specimens, a "tiny" part of the collection.
"I don't know how many tens of thousands of insects and crustaceans were lost," he says.
"I feel very sorry for my colleagues, some of whom have worked here for 30 or 40 years. Now all evidence of their work is lost, their lives have lost meaning, too."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45398084
One issue appears to be the lack of a sprinkler system. Mr Dias Duarte told Globo TV that a $5.3m (£4.1m) modernisation plan agreed in June would have included the installation of modern fire prevention equipment, but only after October's elections.That they were so close to installing fire prevention systems hurts even more. I think this may be the largest museum fire in recorded human history, at least since Alexandrian or Mongolian times
A great lose for humanity.
QuoteProf Paulo Buckup, an expert in fish science at the museum, arrived at 19:30 (22:30 GMT) local time to find parts of the building where animal specimens were kept still intact.Entire generations worth of work lost in one night, millions of years of history gone. It's a miracle the emergency response teams managed to salvage anything at all
"It's unfortunate but the firefighters were not in a position to do anything, to fight anything," he told BBC Brasil's Julia Carneiro.
"They had no water, no ladders, no equipment.
"So we took the initiative to get in to try and save what we could. We had to break down doors. The soldiers helped us carry things."
Prof Buckup rushed into the burning building to save as much of its extensive collection of molluscs as he could, rescuing "a few thousand" specimens, a "tiny" part of the collection.
"I don't know how many tens of thousands of insects and crustaceans were lost," he says.
"I feel very sorry for my colleagues, some of whom have worked here for 30 or 40 years. Now all evidence of their work is lost, their lives have lost meaning, too."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45398084QuoteOne issue appears to be the lack of a sprinkler system. Mr Dias Duarte told Globo TV that a $5.3m (£4.1m) modernisation plan agreed in June would have included the installation of modern fire prevention equipment, but only after October's elections.That they were so close to installing fire prevention systems hurts even more. I think this may be the largest museum fire in recorded human history, at least since Alexandrian or Mongolian times
Not sure what you're referring to by 'Mongolian times'?Isn't that the newspaper that's delivered via horseback and catapult?
"Millions of years" of history? ???Important fossils, presumably.
Not sure what you're referring to by 'Mongolian times'?Mongolian conquests & the attendant burning of libraries / destruction of artefacts
"Millions of years" of history? ???The museum had a paleontology department which stored items of natural history. Bones & fossils of plants, dinos amongst other things
Wtf? The firefighters themselves didn't have water or any equipment at all? What do they use for firefighting in the area then? Bucket teams? The sheer dumbness of not even funding first responders like firefighters is astounding.The state government is bankrupt and the museum was barely getting by. So the firefighters were unprepared AND the museum had no water. The former because previous governors (Sérgio Cabral in particular) were so corrupt it makes regular corrupt officials look honest, and the latter because funding was frozen for education because budget cuts had to be made and obviously it wasn't going to come out of congressfolk's paychecks. Obviously.
budget cuts had to be made and obviously it wasn't going to come out of congressfolk's paychecks. Obviously.Well somebody has to be indignant about all this! Hopes and prayers don't just hopefully pray for themselves!
I don't think the US ever stopped with the whole regime change thing m8sThey did when they switched over to the Middle East when it comes to South America. Except for Colombia, but that's why no one likes their government.
I don't think the US ever stopped with the whole regime change thing m8s
I don't think the US ever stopped with the whole regime change thing m8sThey did when they switched over to the Middle East when it comes to South America. Except for Colombia, but that's why no one likes their government.
I know, but at least the Obama admin seems to have tried to at least learn from history... while botching up Libya.Botching Libya.. Syria... And still Afghanistan. That's actually depressing in hindsight, America's Afghanistan in 2018 is still Afghanistan
I imagine that's why they nevrr provided any material support and then stopped talking with them. Even the Trump administration can see a bad idea for what it is every now and then.He probably concluded it'd cost him votes in his next election
I imagine that's why they nevrr provided any material support and then stopped talking with them. Even the Trump administration can see a bad idea for what it is every now and then.He probably concluded it'd cost him votes in his next election
He probably concluded it'd cost him votes in his next election
Even though the whole thing never got to the support stage from the US, the fact that US officials entertained the idea is still going to anger a lot of people since it just looks like we're up to our old Cold War sheneinighans. And of course, there's no guarantee that the military coup will actually restore democracy or be any better than things are now.
Maduro ain't Chavez. Chavez was a skilled statesman who managed to control his government. Maduro... not so much.my American is showing.
The Caracazo, or sacudón, is the name given to the wave of protests, riots, looting, shootings and massacres that began on 27 February 1989 in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, and the surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousands by some accounts, mostly at the hands of security forces and the military.
From the polls here (https://www.as-coa.org/articles/poll-tracker-brazils-2018-presidential-election) (which I grabbed from here (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-republican-women-support-kavanaugh/)), it looks like Brazils version of Trump* is leading. Though the actual leader is the deSilva guy, the former two term President, but he's blocked from running due to corruption. I guess it says something about the candidates that a former president ousted for corruption is way more popular than the other candidates.He's neither a captain nor a general. He USED to be a captain before he was kicked from the army for attempting domestic terrorism (he wanted to destroy Rio's water dam because he was butthurt about the end of the dictatorship), but was merely kicked out due to legal bullshit. His running mate is a retired general who proudly states he was mentored by the head of the dictatorship's secret police, so that's lovely too. Also remember that the Nazi party had "social" in the name (and Bolsonaro's electorate are fond of claiming Nazis were leftists to make the left look bad).
Also, I think I've heard that Bolsonaro said that he would fix the corruption by applying 'military values', which sounds really worrying to me. Maybe he just means the discipline, but it's easy to see how it would go further.
Also2, it's funny how Bolsonaro, a far right candidate, is in a party called 'social liberals', turns the entire concept of liberal on it's head and bends it into a pretzel.
*TBH, he sounds like he is BEYOND Trump, like way worse in some aspects. Also, the 538 article thinks Bolsonaro is a Captian, but the poll article says General, so, which is correct?
From the polls here (https://www.as-coa.org/articles/poll-tracker-brazils-2018-presidential-election) (which I grabbed from here (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-republican-women-support-kavanaugh/)), it looks like Brazils version of Trump* is leading. Though the actual leader is the deSilva guy, the former two term President, but he's blocked from running due to corruption. I guess it says something about the candidates that a former president ousted for corruption is way more popular than the other candidates.He's neither a captain nor a general. He USED to be a captain before he was kicked from the army for attempting domestic terrorism (he wanted to destroy Rio's water dam because he was butthurt about the end of the dictatorship), but was merely kicked out due to legal bullshit. His running mate is a retired general who proudly states he was mentored by the head of the dictatorship's secret police, so that's lovely too. Also remember that the Nazi party had "social" in the name (and Bolsonaro's electorate are fond of claiming Nazis were leftists to make the left look bad).
Also, I think I've heard that Bolsonaro said that he would fix the corruption by applying 'military values', which sounds really worrying to me. Maybe he just means the discipline, but it's easy to see how it would go further.
Also2, it's funny how Bolsonaro, a far right candidate, is in a party called 'social liberals', turns the entire concept of liberal on it's head and bends it into a pretzel.
*TBH, he sounds like he is BEYOND Trump, like way worse in some aspects. Also, the 538 article thinks Bolsonaro is a Captian, but the poll article says General, so, which is correct?
Meanwhile, candidate Cabo Daciolo, who has no chance of winning, is befuddling everyone by being the most consistent conservative I've ever seen. Why? When he says he's pro-life because that's what a good christian should be... he means it. Despite being in a fascistic party he went on record to say that drug traffickers and militias should be... reformed in humane jails rather than the horrible dungeons we have right now, that they need to be shown love and given equal opportunity, and that giving the police MORE GUNS will just make the problem worse. It's like we've fallen into some bizarro world.
Sorry for the lack of sources, but it's all in pt-br (I can post them anyway if there is demand)
So, down in Brazil, Conservatives are left wing and Liberals are right wing? Must be really confusing for Brazillians to talk politics with Americans. Pro-life (aka anti-abortion) is a standard conservative position over here though.Nope, Bolsonaro switched parties to the social liberals, and then the main faction of that part left in disgust, leaving the faction who brought Bolsonaro to have at it. They're talking about renaming themselves Republicanos.
the words far-right and liberal just don't mesh, like, don't even compute together.It's clear that you have never been to Australia. :P
Not sure why you'd have to redact a bunch of posts?Because if he wins there's a good chance people who don't support him won't have a good time, because he supported and still does the old military dictatorship- sorry, intervention of '64. Because he outright said any result that is not his victory (though that seems unlikely at this point) will be a fraud. Because his running mate, who proudly says he was mentored by the head of the old secret police, speculated that maybe, just maybe, they'll have to do a "self-coup".
Anyways, Bolsonaro AKA El Tropico Trump won the first round with almost all votes counted (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45780176) at 46% with Haddad at 29%.
Not sure why you'd have to redact a bunch of posts?Because if he wins there's a good chance people who don't support him won't have a good time, because he supported and still does the old military dictatorship- sorry, intervention of '64.
Anyways, Bolsonaro AKA El Tropico Trump won the first round with almost all votes counted (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45780176) at 46% with Haddad at 29%.
Because he outright said any result that is not his victory (though that seems unlikely at this point) will be a fraud. Because his running mate, who proudly says he was mentored by the head of the old secret police, speculated that maybe, just maybe, they'll have to do a "self-coup".
saw a BBC article on the election, apparently he claimed that the only reason he didnt completely rule the first round was because of tampering with the voting machinesWhich shows what we're dealing with. There was no tampering, but a whole lot of fake news plus the stupid biometric system not working right and causing huge delays (which were obviously held by fascists on site as proof of tampering).
I pointed out that the major flaw of such a system, of course, would be that the winning candidate by a significant margin would be whoever answered "I don't know" on all the questions.Eh, if they were honest that they didn't know, and actually led with that approach, that would not be a flaw at all! I'd much prefer leaders that admit when they don't know, rather than declaring that they do know and their way is The Answer(tm).
saw a BBC article on the election, apparently he claimed that the only reason he didnt completely rule the first round was because of tampering with the voting machinesWhich shows what we're dealing with. There was no tampering, but a whole lot of fake news plus the stupid biometric system not working right and causing huge delays (which were obviously held by fascists on site as proof of tampering).
It also sounds like it's the first time (from either the BBC article or The Guardian liveblog) Brazil has used the electronic voting machines on such a wide scale and so, they're still working out the kinks.Nah, it's been for years. It's the first year where everyone uses biometric verification though.
Anyways, does he REALLY have the capability to do a self-coup (in his running-mates words)? Putting aside the possibility of some idiots getting the idea into their head and attempting one on behalf of Bolsonaro, does the Brazilian military have the same kind of integrity as the US one does where I know with absolutely no doubt that they'll support whoever wins? I'm open to the possibility that they're just bullshitting, but given that coups have happened (fomented by the US, yes, yes, I KNOW) and given what I don't know and the fact that Bolsonaro has a sizeable following in the military...I don't actually know. I just too tired to care for today. The army seems to be split, but I only really know what most rank-and-file are thinking, roughly. The generals? I got no fucking clue.
You don't seem too worried about him actually trying as far as I can tell, but I don't know what you know that makes you not too worried about it.
Or maybe go full Wild West, no gun laws at all.
(Yes, I know it's not actually true, towns still had rules on guns and all in the Wild West)
Or maybe go full Wild West, no gun laws at all.
(Yes, I know it's not actually true, towns still had rules on guns and all in the Wild West)
Most wild west towns had extremely strict gun laws and were filled with civil war veterans. It uh... Wasn't very wild.
28th.Or maybe go full Wild West, no gun laws at all.
(Yes, I know it's not actually true, towns still had rules on guns and all in the Wild West)
Most wild west towns had extremely strict gun laws and were filled with civil war veterans. It uh... Wasn't very wild.
That's the keyword, most. There were certainly places that didn't have a whole lot of law and order.
Back on topic, isn't the second round of voting in the Brazillian Presidential election this week? 25th or something?
Well, it's Election Day!... For Brazil. The Guardian has a liveblog up: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/oct/28/brazil-election-2018-second-round-of-voting-closes-as-bolsonaro-eyes-the-presidency-liveRegarding the question: it's an area where no exploitation or settlement is allowed except by the native people assigned to that area. So I guess it's like a US reservation.
Not news for Teneb, but news for me (not surprised however...), Bolsonaro is going to be scary for the planet. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/oct/28/brazil-election-2018-second-round-of-voting-closes-as-bolsonaro-eyes-the-presidency-live?page=with:block-5bd14d5ae4b0521246c58d13#block-5bd14d5ae4b0521246c58d13) full article (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/24/planet-populists-brazil-jair-bolsonaro-environment)
A question though, the liveblog entry mentions indingenous reserves, are those national park/wildlife reserve type things or are those the equivalent of reservations (if Brazil even has those) for the Native American populations there?
Under any other US administration I'd say the CIA should assassinate Bolsonaro and install a liberal puppet government. But we don't have the moral authority.Is there any point where you have the moral authority to assassinate world leaders to install puppet governments
Under any other US administration I'd say the CIA should assassinate Bolsonaro and install a liberal puppet government. But we don't have the moral authority.Is there any point where you have the moral authority to assassinate world leaders to install puppet governments
Seems like a dick move that will have long term consequence literally every time it has ever been done
Under any other US administration I'd say the CIA should assassinate Bolsonaro and install a liberal puppet government. But we don't have the moral authority.Is there any point where you have the moral authority to assassinate world leaders to install puppet governments
Seems like a dick move that will have long term consequence literally every time it has ever been done
Under any other US administration I'd say the CIA should assassinate Bolsonaro and install a liberal puppet government. But we don't have the moral authority.Is there any point where you have the moral authority to assassinate world leaders to install puppet governments
Seems like a dick move that will have long term consequence literally every time it has ever been done
We interfered in elections in postwar France and Italy to keep the communists out, and we were right. We should have interfered in the 1933 Reichstag elections, and we would have been right in invading after Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. We should have interfered when Ukraine starved in the 1930s. We should have intervened in Syria when Assad used sarin. We would be vindicated right now if we were to invade Saudi Arabia and send the royal family to the Hague.
The fact that interventionism has so often been used for evil purposes doesn't write it off as a principle. Human rights don't exist unless somebody enforces them. Brazil has no nukes and a military that is a threat only to its own citizens.
We have the power to restore and maintain liberalism, and with the power comes the duty.
Under any other US administration I'd say the CIA should assassinate Bolsonaro and install a liberal puppet government. But we don't have the moral authority.Is there any point where you have the moral authority to assassinate world leaders to install puppet governments
Seems like a dick move that will have long term consequence literally every time it has ever been done
We interfered in elections in postwar France and Italy to keep the communists out, and we were right. We should have interfered in the 1933 Reichstag elections, and we would have been right in invading after Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. We should have interfered when Ukraine starved in the 1930s. We should have intervened in Syria when Assad used sarin. We would be vindicated right now if we were to invade Saudi Arabia and send the royal family to the Hague.
The fact that interventionism has so often been used for evil purposes doesn't write it off as a principle. Human rights don't exist unless somebody enforces them. Brazil has no nukes and a military that is a threat only to its own citizens.
We have the power to restore and maintain liberalism, and with the power comes the duty.
You have it backwards, the US installs the fascists not the democracy.
Honestly though, I think we should stay completely out of it (militarily wise anyway and possibly CIA stuff) and let Brazil make the same mistakes we did on their own continent.
Honestly though, I think we should stay completely out of it (militarily wise anyway and possibly CIA stuff) and let Brazil make the same mistakes we did on their own continent.
Glad to know the thousands who're going to be killed under the Bolsonaro régime can be comforted by the fact that other people minded their own business.
We interfered in elections in postwar France and Italy to keep the communists out, and we were right. We should have interfered in the 1933 Reichstag elections, and we would have been right in invading after Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. We should have interfered when Ukraine starved in the 1930s. We should have intervened in Syria when Assad used sarin. We would be vindicated right now if we were to invade Saudi Arabia and send the royal family to the Hague.America did intervene in Syria, Iraq and Libya, to the point where it's a fucking meme at this point where you can continually destabilise countries and install a foreign regime backed by US military power and intelligence in the name of freedom. Because nothing says liberalism quite like reverting a democratic vote through the CIA.
The fact that interventionism has so often been used for evil purposes doesn't write it off as a principle. Human rights don't exist unless somebody enforces them. Brazil has no nukes and a military that is a threat only to its own citizens.
We have the power to restore and maintain liberalism, and with the power comes the duty.
We interfered in elections in postwar France and Italy to keep the communists out, and we were right. We should have interfered in the 1933 Reichstag elections, and we would have been right in invading after Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. We should have interfered when Ukraine starved in the 1930s. We should have intervened in Syria when Assad used sarin. We would be vindicated right now if we were to invade Saudi Arabia and send the royal family to the Hague.America did intervene in Syria, Iraq and Libya, to the point where it's a fucking meme at this point where you can continually destabilise countries and install a foreign regime backed by US military power and intelligence in the name of freedom. Because nothing says liberalism quite like reverting a democratic vote through the CIA.
The fact that interventionism has so often been used for evil purposes doesn't write it off as a principle. Human rights don't exist unless somebody enforces them. Brazil has no nukes and a military that is a threat only to its own citizens.
We have the power to restore and maintain liberalism, and with the power comes the duty.
Old democracies are not made overnight. It takes stability, practice and generations. The USA has the power to stop blowing up everyone, and with that power comes the duty to stop blowing everyone up. Living under the shadow of American hegemony will merely create more millions who are disillusioned with American liberalism without having altered the fundamentals which caused them to disagree in the first place, completely disregarding whether disagreeing is a just mandate to execute whatever foreigners you want. The "everyday until you like it" approach does not work, especially when you're killing leaders who:
1. Have popular support.
2. Get more popular for surviving assassination attempts.
To replace them with a leader drawn from the previous failure of an establishment, WHO CREATED the mess which has made Bolsonaro popular to begin with. Not every problem can be solved with more bombs and assassination, American investment would do more to help create a strong Brazilian middle class than blowing up all of the leaders they support would ever do in a thousand lifetimes
What if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?
QuoteWhat if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?
"be liberal or die" that sort of thing? What an oxymoron.
"Forced liberalism" in Afghanistan would entail bringing in enough westerners to enact a complete martial-law government, with massive amounts of security personnel, and a surveillance state. The end result isn't "forced liberalism" at all despite whatever intentions were in place, the end result would be a technocratic surveillance police state with capitalism.
QuoteWhat if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?
"be liberal or die" that sort of thing? What an oxymoron.
"Forced liberalism" in Afghanistan would entail bringing in enough westerners to enact a complete martial-law government, with massive amounts of security personnel, and a surveillance state. The end result isn't "forced liberalism" at all despite whatever intentions were in place, the end result would be a technocratic surveillance police state with capitalism.
Do you believe that if an American head of household keeps his daughter cloistered in the basement without an education and marries her off at 10, that he should be allowed to do so without any intervention?
Why should the moral reality change when you move from the US to Afghanistan?
The US has the power to protect the weak and innocent from the capricious use of state power by evil men. If human rights mean anything, they mean that the power implies the duty. Again: we enforced liberalism at gunpoint in postwar Germany. Were we wrong?
QuoteWhat if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?
"be liberal or die" that sort of thing? What an oxymoron.
"Forced liberalism" in Afghanistan would entail bringing in enough westerners to enact a complete martial-law government, with massive amounts of security personnel, and a surveillance state. The end result isn't "forced liberalism" at all despite whatever intentions were in place, the end result would be a technocratic surveillance police state with capitalism.
Do you believe that if an American head of household keeps his daughter cloistered in the basement without an education and marries her off at 10, that he should be allowed to do so without any intervention?
Why should the moral reality change when you move from the US to Afghanistan?
The US has the power to protect the weak and innocent from the capricious use of state power by evil men. If human rights mean anything, they mean that the power implies the duty. Again: we enforced liberalism at gunpoint in postwar Germany. Were we wrong?
Do you think a military solution is THE solution to use everytime? Like our only solution should be to bomb and invade the heck out of others?
The policy had a deep impact on post-combat operations Iraq. It is estimated that 50,000 civil government employees, as well as the all organizations and their affiliates listed in Annex A of Order No. 2, were affected and removed from their positions as a result of de-Ba'athification. Another estimate places the number at "100,000 civil servants, doctors, and teachers," were forcibly removed from the public sector due to low-level affiliation.
...
Specifically, the Iraqi military was affected by Order No. 2. The Order called for the complete dissolution of the Iraqi military, and reportedly resulted in the unemployment and loss of pensions of approximately 500,000 individuals. The figures regarding this level of unemployment are approximately 27%. Many critics argue that this order specifically spurred the development of an armed insurgency.
Probably smack Pakistan around diplomatically and make them cough up Bin Laden.
ITT: American Imperialism in Latinthread. When will Ameripol respect the sovereignty and independence of Latinthread?Because, when you get down to it, we're all Americans.
Yeah, probably a good call, that. It would be hard to summarize that in a way that did it justice.Looks like we've finally ended up in Bolsonaro World.
Get off your high horse. The US doesnt have the power to protect the weak and innocent from the capricious (crapicious?) use of state power by evil men in the US, let alone elsewhere in the world. All your examples are based on selective and interested readings of history. And you vastly overrate your contry's capabilities, but I'm guessing this one is standard on anyone letting patriotism cloud his judgement (which unfortunately is not rare in current international politics)QuoteWhat if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?
"be liberal or die" that sort of thing? What an oxymoron.
"Forced liberalism" in Afghanistan would entail bringing in enough westerners to enact a complete martial-law government, with massive amounts of security personnel, and a surveillance state. The end result isn't "forced liberalism" at all despite whatever intentions were in place, the end result would be a technocratic surveillance police state with capitalism.
The US has the power to protect the weak and innocent from the capricious use of state power by evil men.
Counterpoint: Germany after the war.After the war the German state ceased to exist and its leadership was dead, missing, suicided or executed. There was no choice regarding a dissolution of the German state; it was already dead. You can't compare destabilising a state in peace time with killing most of their men, their leadership, partitioning them between France, UK, USA, Russia and later themselves, with a continued military garrison by aforementioned powers - and expect success from two wildly different scenarios. Germany lost in total war; subsequently it meant that their country suffered the consequences gravely. 25-50% of their houses were destroyed by allied bombing campaigns, their transportation infrastructure and factories were ruined beyond function, they were suffering from rampant inflation, acute food shortages and communist occupation. West Germany could be made in the image of the Western Democracies because all opposition to such proposals died in the Second World War and West Germany was economically, politically and militarily in the hands of allied powers, later, in the hands of German institutions aligned with the West, with a supportive academia willing to instill a national guilt so potent they became synonymous with the origin of primeval evil in the new international mythology. This is not an example you should desire to replicate in Brazil, or anywhere else for that matter lmao.
I agree that we've tended to make a mess of things recently, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I think the experience of postwar Europe should tell us that the real problem wasn't that we intervened too much but that we were unwilling to commit to the intervention. Liberalism won in Germany, in large part, because we enforced liberalism and engaged in ruthless denazification of the country's institutions. We didn't let Germany try Nazism again after the war. That's a good thing.Please for the love of God do not contribute to the plague of idiots using such rhetoric to justify telling people how to think
What if we'd engaged in a campaign of detalibanization and enforced liberalism outside of Kabul?Failed in Iraq and the US did pour vast amounts of money into Afghanistan.
(And of course, we poured vast amounts of money into Germany after the war, too. We should have done that in Afghanistan. Nothing makes people like you more than free money; a $200/month welfare check per Afghan household in villages that don't harbor insurgents and treat their women fairly would have been a cheaper, and more lasting, way of getting people to like us than trying to wage a guerilla campaign.)
ITT: American Imperialism in Latinthread. When will Ameripol respect the sovereignty and independence of Latinthread?It is the fate of all politics threads to eventually become Ameripol threads
Ignorance so nice they viced it twice.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The NY Times has a little compilation of a few quotes from the new president. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/world/americas/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-quotes.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage) I'm going to refrain from directly quoting the article here, but there are some... "interesting" quotes from Brazil's new leader. He may well give Trump, and Duterte, a run for their money.The outrage at a purely hypothetical American intervention is misdirected when a much more relevant - and arguably, much more concerning - situation is already a reality.
This is not some "one off comment".Yes it is.
Wer're dealing with a prolonged argument in which one person kindly suggests subjugating every other until they learn to be a good obedient slave and the other kindly disagrees.Indeed, and that person suggesting subjugation is named Bolsonaro. Did you read the article? About the purging? I really sugest reading the article.
Is Bolsonaro filth? Yes. However, Brazilians elected him and unless democracy is only cool when it's your motherfucker who wins, then you might want to drop the hypocrisy and work around the wannabe dictator.My hypocrisy? Are you confusing me with FearfulJesuit? I'm not saying that the results should be invalidated, and only one person here suggested intervention; even he suggested it in a way that you would agree with and in a way that shows that it's not a real consideration (i.e. "The US doesn't have the moral authority", the only disagreement is whether the US ever has the moral authority).
Is it good that he won? No! But unless you want to finally drop the act of pretending you give a shit about the people you claim you want to liberate then you should watch what you're saying.Let's compare some things here, shall we? I want to move away from intervention-talk, and I can give many reasons as to why:
My NY times free articles ran out, so I can't read the article, but I worry what will happen regarding LGBT rights. Is Bolsonaro backed by the christian evangelical right?I'm pretty sure Bolsonaro is actually really for LGBT rights. I mean, he doesn't want any LGBT left, so he must want them to have rights instead.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't mistaking anyone for anyone so that's that.Pretty much. I expect Bolsonaro to get ousted after a corruption scandal in a few years, and then the cycle of liberality, corruption, authoritarianism, revolution, terror, authoritarianism, liberality, corruption and so forth will continue for generations to come. I wonder whether Bolsonaro is going to stand firm on his anti-China rhetoric though
What's supposed to be shocking about the outcome? This is after for the last two years the exact same scenario played out in both Europe and the US.
Fun fact: Bolsonaro's party only has like 10% of the seats in the Brazilian parliament. He can't deal with the left who hate him. So he will have to rely on a coalition of center right parties called the Centrão which are likely not exactly nice but aren't rabid fascists like Bolsonaro, so he will likely have to tone it down.Currently. This election (which was also for congressfolk, both state and federal, and also governor) means that his party will be the second biggest... after PT.
To be honest, I'm quite optimistic about our new government. Sure, we're all surrounded by fear, but at least it's a change, we have been ruled by the same party for over 14 years, it would have been 16 years if it was not by the Impeachment. And overall, we've had MASSIVE changes in the congress, lots of new faces around, lots of old faces leaving. While I myself was never a fan of the left wing, Bolsonaro was never my first option(All hopes for João Amoedo in 2022). But I do hope he will do a great job, after all, it's my home country, it's where I live!Meh. Sure, one party in power forever is bad, but... a fascist is not that great either.
To be honest, I'm quite optimistic about our new government. Sure, we're all surrounded by fear, but at least it's a change, we have been ruled by the same party for over 14 years, it would have been 16 years if it was not by the Impeachment. And overall, we've had MASSIVE changes in the congress, lots of new faces around, lots of old faces leaving. While I myself was never a fan of the left wing, Bolsonaro was never my first option(All hopes for João Amoedo in 2022). But I do hope he will do a great job, after all, it's my home country, it's where I live!Meh. Sure, one party in power forever is bad, but... a fascist is not that great either.
Hell, his innauguration speech was full of hypocrisy and bulshit. Such as (paraphrasing): "I'll respect freedom of religion. I'll also restore our christian-judeo tradition", or "I'll stop the spread of ideologies" followed swiftly by "I'll restore brazilian society to traditional conservative values" (because that's totally not an ideology, no sir). Also such gems like building a society free of prejudice despite having often spoken in public about how blacks and women and gays are inferiors. Also his gun fetish (despite having once being robbed and *gasp* not reacting at all! (and having his gun stolen as part of that)).
So yeah, I'm salty a fascist domestic terrorist (see earlier in the thread, or just google how he was removed from the army) with a fetish for torture is now the president.
Meh. Sure, one party in power forever is bad, but... a fascist is not that great either.Oh, it's actually pretty much independent from who the president is, every time a new president is elected he starts with approval around 80%.
But I do hope he will do a great job, after all, it's my home country, it's where I live!We all hope. Seriously, it was fun laughing at america, but schadenfreude only works when it's the amiguinho getting boned.
EG, the joke is that there is a predominantly misogynist population that accedes that there is some potential for contradiction there, but it is OK, because that brand of contradiction reinforces their own biases, which they view as obvious, and thus truth-- Whereas if the candidate were female, well--- that's just straight out wrong. Obviously.There are many in Brazil who think Dilma's impeachment was due to misogyny since she didn't actually committ any crime, and it probably has some to it, but I think it's more likely that she was impeached as a appeasing move to the mobs and as a way to get someone willing to dissolve operation lava-jato, since she refused to do it. Too bad, president Fear didn't do it either, so they got screwed anyway.
SquidI just love how you put their names in English...
president Fear
Meh. Sure, one party in power forever is bad, but... a fascist is not that great either.I sure have this fear, but I have this belief, that even if he actually tries to do something like that as a law or something related, he doesn't rule alone, and there are people up there who really wan't to see the country get better, and fascism is not the option, so these people will vote against projects that may have such impact. Sure it couldd totally be me being Naive, but I like to believe it...
I just love how you put their names in English...I'm still mad at Dilma for not giving me something easy to work with. At least my state got governor Milk.
boys dress blue and girls dress pink!"
Oh god the irony.boys dress blue and girls dress pink!"
Female minister says that while dressed in a blue dress
I give Brazil 1 year before full dictatorship. The Amazon Rainforest was good while it lasted.We must save those poor savages from their own territory and culture.
I give Brazil 1 year before full dictatorship. The Amazon Rainforest was good while it lasted.We must save those poor savages from their own territory and culture.
Bolsonaro's gorvern is bringing me fear, and some of tha names along him are complete idiots (see female minister above), but on the other hand, there are a few names I'm quite optimistic about, like, the Science and Technology minister, Marcos Pontes, c'mon, he's a brazilian ASTRONAUT! He's gotta be smart...Being an astronaut does not mean he's a good administrator of a continent-sized country's research efforts.
While completely true, it is also true of every single education in the world, even including a degree in administration of a continent-sized country's research efforts.Fair enough. I'm just glad it was him because it was not some of the other picks. Too bad education went to the most reactionary philosopher I've ever seen.
Bolsonaro's gorvern is bringing me fear, and some of tha names along him are complete idiots (see female minister above), but on the other hand, there are a few names I'm quite optimistic about, like, the Science and Technology minister, Marcos Pontes, c'mon, he's a brazilian ASTRONAUT! He's gotta be smart...Being an astronaut does not mean he's a good administrator of a continent-sized country's research efforts.
Bolsonaro's gorvern is bringing me fear, and some of tha names along him are complete idiots (see female minister above), but on the other hand, there are a few names I'm quite optimistic about, like, the Science and Technology minister, Marcos Pontes, c'mon, he's a brazilian ASTRONAUT! He's gotta be smart...Being an astronaut does not mean he's a good administrator of a continent-sized country's research efforts.
Not a native English speaker either, but they usually refer to it as possessing the relevant degree.
So it would be something like "He has a Public Management Bachelor".
Anyone can check this for us?
That Amazon thing is definitely going to be the source of a lot of conflict.
But we must[/i] expand the economy and civilize the natives!!!!1umThat Amazon thing is definitely going to be the source of a lot of conflict.
Yeah, because of our lackluster preservation policy Norway announced they are cutting 200 million BRL of aid for our deforestation prevention effort.
Please do not abandon us in our moment of need.
Got ninja'd: thanks A thing. :D
I'll ad a option 2.1: They were full of shit, but it is because things are ridiculously chaotic and trying to predict it would be folly so they just went "lol 10 million".
Um, links to what you’re talking about? Just wondering as to the details LordBaal.
After looking at a bbc article talking about a top judge that defected, it mentions that the inauguration is the 10th, I’d guess you’re referring to that?
So after the 10th more than half the planet will consider us without a executive power or representation. The rest of the planet are leeches sucking my country dry.Don't forget that the half not leeching off of your country is only doing what they are doing because they want to be the leeches instead. Lovely attitudes all around.
Yup, oposition controlled congress declared president Ripe illegitimate, so there is a real change that congress is going to be simply dissolved.
The special assembly was boycotted by the opposition, making the body that is supposed to rewrite the constitution nothing more than yes men and fellow partisans. Looks like all pretense of democracy is about to go through the window.
This whole "emergency assembly to review constitution" reminds of the french revolution. None of the "rights of men" stuff, of course, more of "reign of terror" stuff that follows right behind.
More or less that. Thanks for asking smjjames, you get to have all my nice stuff after all explodes.
And as said, pretty much that. The real congress got a new president (of the Congress) which stated that they won't recognise Masburro as anything but a usurper after the 10th. Oh and we had a practical devaluation of the 50% today, it's fucking horrible. People are going crazy over the prices of everything and well, food is scarce and overpriced.
The United States is not going to do anything other than the common sanctions and the like.
Brazil is way more of a threat, since it has double the active personnel and some 2 million reserves. Honestly, a very reactionary government has been elected, so I wouldn't be surprised if Venezuela had major swings of power every time Brazil shifted in it's seat ever so slightly.
We all know and we all hope there nothing like this about to happen, it simply isn't how it works anymore. The army will soon pick a side and get going like it has always done.
"Hey! Soldiers! Where's your patriotism!? Sure, we are totally NOT paying you-- AT ALL-- becauseI am not getting my way with the god-damned wallthose filthy democrats are not willing to protect America, but I know YOU are! So come on, Go risk your lives for absolutely no reimbursement at all!"
Well, go on. You're claiming it's likely that a war and regime change is imminent, I assume you've got some fascinating data to back that up?The United States is not going to do anything other than the common sanctions and the like.
I think you underestimate how easily Trump is swayed by strongmen, or at least how much he cowers to them. Not to mention that he is going to become desperate for distractions as the pressure on him builds.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said the Trump administration is working on a plan to funnel funds to Mr Guaidó, who is currently at an undisclosed location.
President Trump has said that "all options are on the table" in response to the unrest.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-46997555 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-46997555)
Really surprised nobody here's mentioned
Interestingly, Mexico is bucking the USA's influence and backing Maduro on this.Yeah, I'm wondering how much of that is actually Mexico supporting Maduro, and how much of it is "Goddamnit EEUU, stop trying to drive South/Central American politics like a damn RC car"
I mean, it'd be a great distraction from domestic US politics... A war with Venezuela? That's an untapped resource of brown people to fight! It'll be a blatant installation of a hand-picked puppet sympathetic to US economic interests, just like the goodHey! I'm not brown. If anything I'm pasty informatic white.olddays!
Yeah, I still doubt it's going to be outright war, but it's definitely gonna be interesting. "Interesting", in the "What if we fixed this by making it worse?" sense of the term.
Also2, Teneb (or any other Brazillians), is Bolsonaro still itching for some kind of fight with Venezuela? because this sounds like something that he'd jump into the fray.Unknown. Maduro is one of his bogeymen (the other is the now-defunct FARC that he still insists exists as a guerrilla, because of course).
Well, he was elected as deputy. Also he got elected to be president of the national assembly by his peers. He's also following the constitution to the letter.I am not saying Maduro is legitimate, since you said yourself that it was an Electoral College and those are always undemocratic bullshit. But uh... elected by other politicians? Also bullshit.
Maduro's "reelection" was made out of the correct times, with an electoral college that has it's judges corrupted and publicly partial to the cartel and with their periods long expired.
Also Guiadó didn't just declared himself, literally tens of millions of us took the streets of the country that day to show him support.
Also Teneb, the farc is still a very real thing. It might not have the might that once had, but the fact they publicly "lay down their arms" doesn't mean all of them did or they still don't enforce their will through violence. ELN is still at large too.
(http://i.imgur.com/VQ72VJl.jpg)Well, he was elected as deputy. Also he got elected to be president of the national assembly by his peers. He's also following the constitution to the letter.I am not saying Maduro is legitimate, since you said yourself that it was an Electoral College and those are always undemocratic bullshit.
Maduro's "reelection" was made out of the correct times, with an electoral college that has it's judges corrupted and publicly partial to the cartel and with their periods long expired.
Also Guiadó didn't just declared himself, literally tens of millions of us took the streets of the country that day to show him support.
Also Teneb, the farc is still a very real thing. It might not have the might that once had, but the fact they publicly "lay down their arms" doesn't mean all of them did or they still don't enforce their will through violence. ELN is still at large too.
But uh... elected by other politicians? Also bullshit.He didn't got elected as president of the republic by his peers. He got elected president of the national assembly. However the constitution points out that when the president can't be sworn (in this case because there weren't even real elections) the president of the national assembly gets to be a temporary president of the republic too. It's not an election or choice, it's law.
It's nice that he actually has popular support, but did he, specifically he, got that support before his fellow congressfolks named him president? Because that's my concern. That your countrymen are failing to see something concerning because of the hate for the Ripe President.
Alright, then it was a failure in communications between us.Exactly, the idea is that he gets to be in power only temporary for less than a year, until the crisis is over and free, transparent and real elections can be done.
From what I'm gathering here, he needs to get an election going as soon as possible (which I imagine is when Maduro is no longer on the chair), right?
Also on source-less news because no articles in english I could find (well, there's pt-br ones):
-Gay Federal Deputy Jean Willis not only abdicated from both his current and upcoming mandate, but left the country and won't be coming back. Reason being that he and his family have been receiving very real death threats since Dilma's fall and he claims that the government, both old and current, haven't done anything about it. (https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2019/01/25/quem-ameaca-parlamentar-esta-cometendo-um-crime-contra-a-democracia-diz-mourao.ghtml)
What was the deal with the elections anyway? As far as I can tell from the unclear reports, it seems that the opposition encouraged all its supportersto boycott the election (thereby increasing Nasty M's vote share) then turned around and said "look! Maduro has a much bigger margin than he should have! Rigged!"
I'm fairly sure thats a misunderstanding, but what was actually going on?
Also Teneb, the farc is still a very real thing. It might not have the might that once had, but the fact they publicly "lay down their arms" doesn't mean all of them did or they still don't enforce their will through violence. ELN is still at large too.
Re: Farc: Yeah, but FARC is now a political party, yet the election propaganda acted as if they were still in their old, jungle-stalking form. As in, as if they had never laid down arms officially, and etc. Which is straight-up fear-mongering.
Which is excellent and terrible news for us.Baal, do you got any evidence to back that? Like, even a newspaper article? Because I seriously doubt some of those. Hezbola? NK?
At one hand you have to a foreign military lees to worry about filling your ass with bullets, on the other hand there are already thousands of Cubans in disguise within our armed forces, Hezbola in the eastern states and both FARC and ELN operating in frontier zones and the Orinoco mining arc, that's without counting the Russians, Chinese, Turks and I suspect to some degree North Koreans.
Baal, do you got any evidence to back that? Like, even a newspaper article? Because I seriously doubt some of those. Hezbola? NK?News paper article:
That seriously sucks balls, I hope it didn't affected anyone you knew.
Anyway, we take a regularly scheduled break from Venezuela's death throes because Yet Another Mining Dam in Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has burst and destroyed a huge area and claimed around 200 lives. This time in Brumadinho (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/brazil-dam-collapse-news-latest-mining-disaster-brumadinho). This is going to be Mariana 2: The Sequel. No one's gonna get punished, because the law is actually insufficient and does not hold corporate leadership as responsible, and Brumadinho is gonna be another muddy wasteland.
This shit is what I mean when I talk about Mariana, which is the oldest damn settlement in that state. (https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/oct/15/samarco-dam-collapse-brazil-worst-environmental-disaster-bhp-billiton-vale-mining)
And of course, of course, the Pocket-naro wants to reduce legislation regarding this shit and its monitoring. Oh those wacky fascists.
EDIT: It's in PT-BR, but here's a Before and After comparison (https://g1.globo.com/mg/minas-gerais/noticia/2019/01/25/antes-e-depois-veja-imagens-do-rompimento-de-barragem-da-vale-em-brumadinho-mg.ghtml)
What was the deal with the elections anyway? As far as I can tell from the unclear reports, it seems that the opposition encouraged all its supportersto boycott the election (thereby increasing Nasty M's vote share) then turned around and said "look! Maduro has a much bigger margin than he should have! Rigged!"The idea behind any electoral boycott is to present it as illegitimate: the typical claim is that the election was going to be rigged, illegitimate, illegal, or what-have-you in either case, so there's no point in pretending to legitimize it by participating and treating it as such. Basically, if you're going to lose anyways or you refuse to work within the system as presented by the governing authorities, then there's every reason to reject the electoral process. The Maoist parties of Nepal and India are the immediate example that strike me; convincing the former to be willing to work with the electoral process instead of continuing the ongoing civil war was a key part in both legitimizing them and the government as a whole, while their Indian Naxalite counterparts still reject the right to rule of the Indian government and remain committed to a violent overthrow of the New Delhi government.
I'm fairly sure thats a misunderstanding, but what was actually going on?
The new thread title is to "celebrate" the hottest day in about a century.
(Source, pt-br only use a translator: https://diariodorio.com/rio-tem-o-janeiro-mais-quente-em-quase-100-anos/)
Now Maduro made a video imploring the USA people to intercede for him against Trump, because a coup is being financed by Trump pockets.
4chan has a business section? I suppose they gotta have somewhere to put the business related memes.Well, someone needs to polish all those bitcoins.
That's a minister of Brazil saying that about Brazilians, to be clear.Yes.
You have a human rights ministry???!!! -Says the guy from the country with a Happiness ministry.Yes. It started its existence as the Secretariat of Human Rights under Fernando Henrique Cardoso, then was elevated to Ministry of Women, Racial Equality, and Human Rights by Dilma Rouseff, got reduced to Ministry of Human Rights by Michel Temer, and finally the Pocket Monster sanitized it to the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights.
And... Doesn't the Human Rights Minister's comment mean that she should also leave the country, if she's surprise-adopted a native girl?So here's what reporters (of a right-leaning magazine!) found out: the girl was born in a native reserve, and at some point her parents passed away and she lived with her grandmother. Then the now-minister rolled in as a missionary and took the girl supposedly to give her dental treatment, promising she would bring her back, despite the fact that the girl didn't want to go and the community didn't want to let her go either. Then suddenly the then-missionary-now-minister has an adopted daughter! That she never legally adopted! The minister has refused to comment about it despite saying she would love to clarify the situation before the journalists released the work.
Or has the girl since been sold off?
That's a minister of Brazil saying that about Brazilians, to be clear.Well, that's one approach to PR I guess.
Today, Brazil. Tomorrow, Puerto Rico!That's a minister of Brazil saying that about Brazilians, to be clear.Well, that's one approach to PR I guess.
The New York Times has also talked a bit about it, and I even saw a headline about it in Norwegian news.I don't know much about the geography of the Venezuela-Colombia border, but the Brazil-Venezuela border is surprisingly effective to shut down since it's literally the only point where you can cross without risking death. I imagine it might be similar with that bridge.
There's also this (https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006360134/venezuela-border-bridge-guaido-maduro.html) video talking about one of the major crossings and how they closed an already-closed bridge for some reason.
I did see a video with Maduro stating that he was going to close the border entirely, but I don't know how much that's actually been put into effect versus how much people are focusing on the big bridge.
Okay, I couldn't find any articles about it in english due to bad website layouts making it hard to search for slightly older articles, but Venezuela has closed the Brazilian-Venezuela border. Refugees are still trickling in, but are having to slog through trenches or jungle to do so.
Apparently at the Colombian border, Venezuelan soldiers have left their posts (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47343918), though it seems it was just a few of them.
BBC also has this live reporting page. (https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-latin-america-47344348) Be aware of the site's biases and all, but so far its good info.
EDIT: Brazil'sfascistsgovernment has said they won't invade Venezuela (https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2019/02/22/governo-descarta-acao-agressiva-contra-venezuela-e-diz-que-papel-do-brasil-e-de-carater-humanitario.ghtml).
Escalating..... (https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/23/americas/venezuela-brazil-violence-intl/index.html) Maduro has cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia and is giving them 24 hours to leave, and is threatening the US in some way, the same rhetoric as before I guess.Not that I want to defend this clown in any manner, but I recall the previous time the supposed threats against the US were actually a grossly mistranslated and spun phrase that then was subsequently bounced around English-language media
editwhiletyping: And now, the Secretary General of OAS (Organization of American States) says that Maduro can't do that because he isn't legitimate. (https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-latin-america-47344348?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5c71aee77c432e0681fbd69c%26Maduro%20%27can%27t%20break%20ties%20with%20Colombia%27%262019-02-23T20%3A45%3A12.351Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:2061b59c-f4b1-4c70-a881-be797f0cef3b&pinned_post_asset_id=5c71aee77c432e0681fbd69c&pinned_post_type=share) Doubt he'd be able to actually stop Maduro anyway.
Damnit. The gov refusal of foreign aid is a terrible thing. Even diplomatic pouches aren't a guaranteed method of transmitting things, though hopefully it still works.Considering how US senators went to the bridge that was never actually used (due to bureaucratic issues) and said it being closed was terrorism... yeah, I totally see that. Brazil is also trying to send a humanitarian convoy, but they're going through a path that is actually used (but currently closed, I think to stop people from leaving more than to keep stuff from coming in).
And I'm starting to worry that the US is trying to find a cause for military intervention.
No, the first time a few weeks ago was 24 hours too, then 72, then a week, then he didn't spoke about it again.
Fuck it darn it, they torched 3 trucks for a total of 60 tons of food, medicine and vaccines that would have helped so many people...
Escalating..... (https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/23/americas/venezuela-brazil-violence-intl/index.html) Maduro has cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia and is giving them 24 hours to leave, and is threatening the US in some way, the same rhetoric as before I guess.Not that I want to defend this clown in any manner, but I recall the previous time the supposed threats against the US were actually a grossly mistranslated and spun phrase that then was subsequently bounced around English-language media
editwhiletyping: And now, the Secretary General of OAS (Organization of American States) says that Maduro can't do that because he isn't legitimate. (https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-latin-america-47344348?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5c71aee77c432e0681fbd69c%26Maduro%20%27can%27t%20break%20ties%20with%20Colombia%27%262019-02-23T20%3A45%3A12.351Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:2061b59c-f4b1-4c70-a881-be797f0cef3b&pinned_post_asset_id=5c71aee77c432e0681fbd69c&pinned_post_type=share) Doubt he'd be able to actually stop Maduro anyway.
And I'm starting to worry that the US is trying to find a cause for military intervention.
editwhiletyping: I had a thought, if Guyana joined into the coalition, things could get diplomatically complicated. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayana_Esequiba#Schomburgk_Line)
In 1850 both Britain and Venezuela reached an agreement whereby they accepted not to colonize the disputed territory, although where this territory began and ended was not established.
BBC: Venezuela has announced that it is increasing the royalties paid by foreign oil companies from 1% of the sale price to 16.6%.
Venezuela begins power rationing as drought causes severe outages
Anggy Polanco, Isaac Urrutia
SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela imposed electricity rationing this week in six western states, as the crisis-hit country’s creaky power grid suffered from a drought that has reduced water levels in key reservoirs needed to run hydroelectric power generators.
The power cuts, which started on Thursday, have been caused by problems at a major hydroelectric plant.
Venezuela depends on its vast hydroelectric infrastructure, rather than its oil reserves, for its domestic electricity supply. But decades of underinvestment has damaged the major dams, and sporadic blackouts are commonplace.
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.But is it midnight oil?
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.They have oil, I dont think they have enough oil refineries. I dont think crude oil is appropiate for most types of generators
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.I have no doubt that the people pushing a casus belli against Maduro (please do not mistake this as support for the cretin) would then go and say "Look! The Communist Leftists are BURNING THE OIL! How heinous!"
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.They have oil, I dont think they have enough oil refineries. I dont think crude oil is appropiate for most types of generators
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.I have no doubt that the people pushing a casus belli against Maduro (please do not mistake this as support for the cretin) would then go and say "Look! The Communist Leftists are BURNING THE OIL! How heinous!"
As a whole, though, this Maduro business is yet another example of some corrupt and inept fuck hiding behind Comunism and other Left-leaning ideologies, helping the reactionaries further vilify anyone who dares to wear red.
At first, the second one sounds like extraordinary praise of women, but when taken into context of Bolsonaro...For those who may not be aware of his opinion of women, he outright said in bloody public that his daughter was born from "a moment of weakness" on his part.
@reelya: Eh? I didn't say anything about socialism being involved, just dinging the overreliance on hydro. They have oil, they could be burning oil (yes, I know, global warming and all) for power in an emergency.
Very sorry to hear about that, man... Really hope things work out.
I've heard the narrative that aid from places like the US are being stopped because of carrying support and weapons for revolutionary forces, but... I have to wonder, is it worth it? Is letting people starve and die from poor medical care better than the potential of starting an armed insurgency? I really don't know. It's definitely a clusterfuck of a situation, and it's not getting less complicated.
My opinion: today we see these kids addicted to videogames. And violent videogames, that's all they do. I have grandchildren and I see my grandchildren many times diving into this. We don't like to say 'back in my day', but when I was a child or when I was a teenger, we just played ball, we flew kites, we played marbles. And we don't see these things anymore.
---
Minha opinião: hoje a gente vê essa garotada viciada em videogame. E videogames violentos, só isso que fazem. Eu tenho netos e vejo meus netos muitas vezes mergulhadora nisso aí. A gente nunca gosta de falar 'no meu tempo', mas quando eu era criança ou era adolescente, a gente jogava bola, a gente soltava pipa, jogava bola de gude. E isso a gente não vê mais essas coisas.
Another tragedy caused by a minor and that attest to the failure of the poorly-thought disarmament statute, which is still being enforced.
--
Mais uma tragédia protagonizada por menor de idade e que atesta o fracasso do malfadado estatuto do desarmamento, ainda em vigor.
I feel defeated as policeman and congressman in sight of the tragedy that occurred in the Prof. Raul Brasil school in Suzano. I lament, cry and make my prayers for the victims of these bastards, but not for the death of two bandits. Enough hipocrisy! While firearms are illigal, only the illigals will have guns! Failure and naughtiness* of the 'farce of the disarmament politics' that has armed criminals and impeded self-defense. Another sad tragedy that shows the necessity of reducing penal age**. Bandits have no age. Our schools should be places of protection to our children and sadly they are not safe! We urgently need to revise our public safety policy, BANDITS HAVE NO AGE, and this tragedy only reaffirms that we need to reduce penal age NOW!
If there had been the citizen with a registered gun inside the school, teacher, servant, retired police officer working there, he could've minimized the scope of the tragedy.
*It sounds weird in english, but it's the proper translation. The word has a more serious connotation in Portuguese.
**Couldn't think of a good way to translate. In short, people with less than 18 years currently are processed differently in the prison system.
---
Sinto-me derrotado como policial e como parlamentar diante da tragédia que ocorreu na escola Prof. Raul Brasil em Suzano. Lamento, choro e faço minhas orações pelas vítimas desses canalhas, menos pela morte do dois bandidos. Chega de hipocrisia! Enquanto as armas forem ilegais, apenas os ilegais terão armas! Fracasso e safadeza da 'farsa da política desarmamentista' que armou criminosos e impediu a legítima defesa. Mais uma triste tragédia que mostra a necessidade da redução da maioridade penal. Bandido não tem idade. Nossas escolas deviam ser lugar de proteção para nossas crianças e infelizmente não estão seguras! Precisamos urgentemente rever a nossa política de segurança pública, BANDIDO NÃO TEM IDADE, e essa tragédia apenas reafirma que precisamos reduzir a maioridade penal JÁ!
Se tivesse o cidadão com a arma regular dentro da escola, professor, servente, policial aposentado trabalhando lá, ele poderia ter minimizado o tamanho da tragédia.
Oh for fucks sakes! Finally I'm able to connect. Dunno if I'll have connection again or what. The battery our phones were charged on a car by a good samaritan.
We have no water and cooking gas is running low, not as if we have much left to cook. The three of us are okay for now if any of you is wondering.
The failure was due poor management and the corruption that allowed our power system to be destroyed by the lack of maintenance. Apparently the Guri damn had 3 or 4 turbines damaged and several other equipments. Of course the Maduro mafia says is the extreme rigth wing and USA. We have been on the brink of this collapse for months if not years and they did nothing but keep stealing the money instead of invest it on maintenance, upgrades and new power plants.
On the other hand people are dying, newborns are dying on the hospitals. My wife and I have prayed every nigth for those little souls. Maduro does indeed allowed by both action and inaction a genocide of our people. In the J.M. de Los Rios children hospital in Caracas the mafia just took their last generator away and left dozens of children and newborns to die.
Guys, there's no much food left at home and what little we had has been eaten to avoid going bad or have already started to spoil. On the streets there is people charging 1 dollar per 10 minutes charge (people with generators). And a bag of ice or a bottle of water is 10$ and I really dont have money beyond like 8$ worth of bolivares on my bank account which is inaccessible anyway just as my PayPal savings/escape money, all useless now.
Gasoline is low too due the pumps not being able to work without electricity and the queues for the stations with generators (3 in total here in my city) are kilometers long. Not that I have a car on my own but this has furthered the collapse.
If this keeps on going for as long as the worst cases states (a week or even more longer, there have been already 3 days), I have to be honest, I doubt we'll make it through, not in one piece. I mean maybe I'll have to scavenge from the trash but surely won't be the only one, and violence is already beginning to undertake the streets. I'll fight for my family to the bitter end if it comes to it.
If I don't post here ever again, well, just don't vote for socialism, promise me.
Which is great, because...Quote from: Flavio Bolsonaro, Senator and son of Pocket Monster Sr.Another tragedy caused by a minor and that attest to the failure of the poorly-thought disarmament statute, which is still being enforced.
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Mais uma tragédia protagonizada por menor de idade e que atesta o fracasso do malfadado estatuto do desarmamento, ainda em vigor.
I'm so sorry.Don't be, unless you are Mauro or Chavez isn't your fault.
Which is great, because...Quote from: Flavio Bolsonaro, Senator and son of Pocket Monster Sr.Another tragedy caused by a minor and that attest to the failure of the poorly-thought disarmament statute, which is still being enforced.
--
Mais uma tragédia protagonizada por menor de idade e que atesta o fracasso do malfadado estatuto do desarmamento, ainda em vigor.
(https://www.diariodocentrodomundo.com.br/mesmo-armado-me-senti-indefeso-o-melhor-argumento-contra-as-armas-e-de-bolsonaro-por-kiko-nogueira/7547f69a-aa72-4ddd-a063-4a422efc72f2/)
In the red underline, "Even armed, I felt defenseless."
What's that article clipping about? Something involving a motorcycle (my guess at the translation of motocicleta) and being assaulted (assaltantes? plus the underlined bit that was translated)?Two robbers stole his motorcycle even tough he was armed and is a former military officer.
"Right now, I can see lots of regular, normal people and their children walking spontaneously towards Plaza Altamira [scene of anti-Maduro protests] to show their support for Guaidó and López’s and all the national assembly members who are there. They’re carrying flags and the atmosphere is very cheerful at the moment."
"Venezuelan brothers and sisters, today, 30 April, I tell you we will see each other in a free Venezuela, the Venezuela we all want and are fighting for
We’re waiting for all those who’ve gone abroad to come back and join us. Kisses! We’ll see each other in a free Venezuela!"
Perhaps. Either way, here's hoping you stay safe in the present situation.It seems I'll eat my words?Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Thanks dude! I'll keep us safe.
Sec. of State even coined a name for it, 'Operacion Libertad' (https://www.cnn.com/americas/live-news/juan-guaido-venezuela-operation-freedom-live-updates/h_6c9fcc50bc0fcf02e43b939132ba402c)Well, I mean, the US Sec. of State wasn't the first one to use the term. Fairly sure Guaidó was using the phrase before the states started really picking up on things.
No, those men are finally comming around to actually obey the constitution and the true president, which is not Maduro.It's a coup. You can wholeheartedly agree that it is a righteous one, but, by definition, it is a coup.
Is not a coup, is the end of a coup.
No, those men are finally comming around to actually obey the constitution and the true president, which is not Maduro.It's a coup. You can wholeheartedly agree that it is a righteous one, but, by definition, it is a coup.
Is not a coup, is the end of a coup.
A coup is, to simplify it a bit, when members of the State topple the current regime. A revolution, meanwhile, is when a group that is not part of the State does the same thing.
However this shitshow ends, I just hope it won't have any intervention by any country that is not called Venezuela.
Some of the soldiers have started firing their weapons into the air in order to scare off the other side. Sounds like things are getting dangerously close to bloodshed.
It appears to be a combination coup and revolution/popular uprising. Gotta wonder if the coup part is spontaneous or planned though.Usually, only the leadership matters when it comes to figuring out which is the case.
Is not a coup on the basis they (Maduro and Co) aren't the state anymore, not since last january 10th and remain in power by momentun and brute force, not by true democratic mechanisms.A de-facto State is still a State, my friend. And States don't need to be democratic. They just need to Be. You could argue that Guaidó has splintered the State into his own and Maduro's, but he was part of the State when he began the whole process, which is what tends to be used when it comes down to classification.
It appears to be a combination coup and revolution/popular uprising. Gotta wonder if the coup part is spontaneous or planned though.Usually, only the leadership matters when it comes to figuring out which is the case.
Anyway, shit is going down right now so expect the thread to get updated pretty fast.Is not a coup on the basis they (Maduro and Co) aren't the state anymore, not since last january 10th and remain in power by momentun and brute force, not by true democratic mechanisms.A de-facto State is still a State, my friend. And States don't need to be democratic. They just need to Be. You could argue that Guaidó has splintered the State into his own and Maduro's, but he was part of the State when he began the whole process, which is what tends to be used when it comes down to classification.
On a sidenote according to Bild (...) Maduro was dissuated by the russians to flee to Cuba.
Posting to watch.
I hope if the coup is successful the international community lends its aid to rebuilding the Venezuelan economy.
Well wasn't the thing with turkey that shortly after they got a new constitution? I know this is wild speculation but could it have been planned that support dwindles in the last minute? Like, via a false sense of assurance?
one has gotta wonder where Bolton is getting his intel from (https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/30/venezuela-opposition-leader-juan-guaido-claims-coup-underway-live-news?page=with:block-5cc8f82f8f08d5e277b5803c#block-5cc8f82f8f08d5e277b5803c)...A naked man has few secrets; a flayed man, none
Let's see what happens today, but I dont have high hopes. Hey at least I'm not eating my own words.Unfortunately, you're not eating a whole lot else either...
Also, one has gotta wonder where Bolton is getting his intel from (https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/30/venezuela-opposition-leader-juan-guaido-claims-coup-underway-live-news?page=with:block-5cc8f82f8f08d5e277b5803c#block-5cc8f82f8f08d5e277b5803c)... I saw his earlier claim as BS straight away since if those aides really were plotting secretly, it'd seem like a REALLY bad idea to call out the fact that they exist, let alone call them out by name.
Yesterday there were more protests, some of them turned into riots. Not much info besides that. The mob insists everything is in order and we should carry on but today there are more protests scheduled. Ph and the body count already started.
We got our power cut twice instead of a single time wich is odd but no unherad off. And currently there's no internet, and my phone data is unreliable and unestable at best.
Yesterday there were more protests, some of them turned into riots. Not much info besides that. The mob insists everything is in order and we should carry on but today there are more protests scheduled. Ph and the body count already started.
We got our power cut twice instead of a single time wich is odd but no unherad off. And currently there's no internet, and my phone data is unreliable and unestable at best.
the mob or The Mob? ;)
Here it is:I think it's "They intend to buy us", rather than pretend.
https://twitter.com/Knesix/status/1123942390698586114?s=20
"They pretend to buy us" would be the literal translation.
I agree with thisHere it is:I think it's "They intend to buy us", rather than pretend.
https://twitter.com/Knesix/status/1123942390698586114?s=20
"They pretend to buy us" would be the literal translation.
I haven't figured out yet if the guy you linked is pro- or anti- Maduro, but I partially agree with his assessment on Maduro's own reaction. I say partially because I see it less as a scared glare and more as sudden suspicion as to the intentions of the minister.
His eyes don't go wide in surprise so much as they narrow. It's hard to see the actual eyes in the video, I'm mostly going with the eyebrows.
I agree with thisHere it is:I think it's "They intend to buy us", rather than pretend.
https://twitter.com/Knesix/status/1123942390698586114?s=20
"They pretend to buy us" would be the literal translation.
I haven't figured out yet if the guy you linked is pro- or anti- Maduro, but I partially agree with his assessment on Maduro's own reaction. I say partially because I see it less as a scared glare and more as sudden suspicion as to the intentions of the minister.
His eyes don't go wide in surprise so much as they narrow. It's hard to see the actual eyes in the video, I'm mostly going with the eyebrows.
tievemy google skills aren't enough for me to figure this one out
And yeah, I don't think anybody would really give a damn about the ambassadorPerhaps...
but fully in agreement.
when regular people are suffering more than he.
Holy shit! (https://theintercept.com/series/secret-brazil-archive/), this is nuts (https://theintercept.com/2019/06/11/brazil-lula-ro-khanna-operation-car-wash/).
Mensagem de 22 de abril de 2016
13:04:13 Deltan: Caros, conversei com o FUX mais uma vez, hoje
Dear gentlemen, spoke with FUX once again, today
13:04:13 Deltan: Reservado, é claro: O Min Fux disse quase espontaneamente que Teori fez
queda de braço com Moro e viu que se queimou, e que o tom da resposta do Moro depois foi
ótimo. Disse para contarmos com ele para o que precisarmos, mais uma vez. Só faltou, como
bom carioca, chamar-me pra ir à casa dele rs. Mas os sinais foram ótimos. Falei da importância
de nos protegermos como instituições
Reserved, of course: The Min[inister] Fux said almost spontaneously that Teori wrestled Moro and got burned, and that Moro's following response tone afterwards was great. Said to count on him for what we need, once again. All that was left, like a good carioca[Person from Rio de Janeiro], invite me to his home lol. But the signals were great. Talked about the importance of protecting ourselves as institutions.
13:04:13 Deltan: Em especial no novo governo
Specially in the new government
13:06:55 Moro: Excelente. In Fux we trust
Execellent. In Fux we trust
13:13:48 Deltan: Kkk
lol
First (Correct me if I'm wrong) they upright claimed to have gotten that information with the help of hackers,They didn't claim that in article. It was claimed by some of the current government supporters that it was obtained illegally in order to render it unusable for legally persecuting the participants of the conversation.
Notice how Deltan sends 3 messages, one them quite big, not only on the same minute, but also in the same second(13:04:13). Now, I consider myself a fast typer, but this is a whole new level of fast typing. Jokes aside, that could mean two things, either it's a fake conversation forged by the "hackers", supported by the fact that we don't have any screenshots so far. Or Deltan could have said that to someone else, and then redirected the messages to Moro, which then involves a third person, which then, involves yet more investigation into it.Yes, current understanding is that he was coordinating with fellow prosecutors in the case in a separate chat group of the persecution.(Which Moro wasn't part of, since he was the judge). It is implied in the start: "Dear gentlemen", that he was talking to many people. He sent it to that group and them forwarded to Moro. Since he was using Telegram, the time stamp on the messages is the time when he forwarded them.
Hey there, how's life been treating ya? Ready for the general strike tomorrow?First (Correct me if I'm wrong) they upright claimed to have gotten that information with the help of hackers,They didn't claim that in article. It was claimed by some of the current government supporters that it was obtained illegally in order to render it unusable for legally persecuting the participants of the conversation.Notice how Deltan sends 3 messages, one them quite big, not only on the same minute, but also in the same second(13:04:13). Now, I consider myself a fast typer, but this is a whole new level of fast typing. Jokes aside, that could mean two things, either it's a fake conversation forged by the "hackers", supported by the fact that we don't have any screenshots so far. Or Deltan could have said that to someone else, and then redirected the messages to Moro, which then involves a third person, which then, involves yet more investigation into it.Yes, current understanding is that he was coordinating with fellow prosecutors in the case in a separate chat group of the persecution.(Which Moro wasn't part of, since he was the judge). It is implied in the start: "Dear gentlemen", that he was talking to many people. He sent it to that group and them forwarded to Moro. Since he was using Telegram, the time stamp on the messages is the time when he forwarded them.
Hey there, how's life been treating ya? Ready for the general strike tomorrow?
Ok thanks. So that leaves me with only one suspection. Why don't we have any screenshots? I need screenshots dammit!We are all waiting on it, but people suspect it being a backup download from the telegram website, and it only spits out a txt, so the screenshots would be quite disappointing. It is unlikely they are holding the guy's phone.
Greve geral mano! I already gave my guys the day off, nothing will get done today, I'm sure. The mobilization in my city will be one block away from my shop.Hey there, how's life been treating ya? Ready for the general strike tomorrow?Sorry, did not catch the reference there...
Greve geral mano! I already gave my guys the day off, nothing will get done today, I'm sure. The mobilization in my city will be one block away from my shop.Hey there, how's life been treating ya? Ready for the general strike tomorrow?Sorry, did not catch the reference there...
Brazillian nepotism, HO! (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/americas/jair-bolsonaro-son-us-ambassador-intl/index.html). (Bolsonaro wants to make one of his sons the US ambassador. Maybe Trump can make Ivanka the ambassador to Brazil or something, heh. Not that it'll likely get past the US Senate.)Said son says he's qualified because "he made a hamburger in the US once".
Oh okay that'll do itBrazillian nepotism, HO! (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/americas/jair-bolsonaro-son-us-ambassador-intl/index.html). (Bolsonaro wants to make one of his sons the US ambassador. Maybe Trump can make Ivanka the ambassador to Brazil or something, heh. Not that it'll likely get past the US Senate.)Said son says he's qualified because "he made a hamburger in the US once".
Brazillian nepotism, HO! (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/americas/jair-bolsonaro-son-us-ambassador-intl/index.html). (Bolsonaro wants to make one of his sons the US ambassador. Maybe Trump can make Ivanka the ambassador to Brazil or something, heh. Not that it'll likely get past the US Senate.)Said son says he's qualified because "he made a hamburger in the US once".
Also, the position? Been vacant for 4 months. When it fist became vacant, the pocket monster said he'd appoint someone "soon". Then his son reaches his 35th birthday. The VERY NEXT DAY? He is appointed as the ambassador. There's a minimum age of 35 to be ambassador.Brazillian nepotism, HO! (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/americas/jair-bolsonaro-son-us-ambassador-intl/index.html). (Bolsonaro wants to make one of his sons the US ambassador. Maybe Trump can make Ivanka the ambassador to Brazil or something, heh. Not that it'll likely get past the US Senate.)Said son says he's qualified because "he made a hamburger in the US once".
Also, quote from him in the article, "There will always be criticisms. I don't believe that me being considered for this position is nepotism. We're not just talking about any individual that is unqualified for the position."
nep·o·tism
/ˈnepəˌtizəm/
noun
noun: nepotism
the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.
Don't know what his definition of nepotism is then.
While a Brazillian ambassadorship to the US is certainly among the cushier ambassadorships from there, you'd think it'd be taken with some seriousness. Then again, despots think alike, right?
Also, the position? Been vacant for 4 months. When it fist became vacant, the pocket monster said he'd appoint someone "soon". Then his son reaches his 35th birthday. The VERY NEXT DAY? He is appointed as the ambassador. There's a minimum age of 35 to be ambassador.Brazillian nepotism, HO! (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/americas/jair-bolsonaro-son-us-ambassador-intl/index.html). (Bolsonaro wants to make one of his sons the US ambassador. Maybe Trump can make Ivanka the ambassador to Brazil or something, heh. Not that it'll likely get past the US Senate.)Said son says he's qualified because "he made a hamburger in the US once".
Also, quote from him in the article, "There will always be criticisms. I don't believe that me being considered for this position is nepotism. We're not just talking about any individual that is unqualified for the position."
nep·o·tism
/ˈnepəˌtizəm/
noun
noun: nepotism
the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.
Don't know what his definition of nepotism is then.
While a Brazillian ambassadorship to the US is certainly among the cushier ambassadorships from there, you'd think it'd be taken with some seriousness. Then again, despots think alike, right?
But I'm sure he's totally qualified and the above facts are totally unrelated.
Faschs' gonna fasch.
What? No, the fasch take the train
Pocket has just solved hunger it seems, says "Speaking about starving in brazil is big lie" (https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2019/07/19/falar-que-se-passa-fome-no-brasil-e-uma-grande-mentira-diz-bolsonaro.ghtml)I totally didn't see a man starving on the street yesterday. No sir.
Sure thing dude, no doubt about it, no way people are starving. (https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2019/07/em-media-15-pessoas-morrem-de-desnutricao-por-dia-no-brasil.shtml)
Does Brazil have nepotism laws? It may be like here in the US though where there is a nepotism law for putting family members in senate confirmable positions, but there are grey areas.It's a grey area.
Does Brazil have nepotism laws? It may be like here in the US though where there is a nepotism law for putting family members in senate confirmable positions, but there are grey areas.It's a grey area.
EDIT: ...aaaand now the pocket fascist is comparing himself to Johnny Bravo unironically, and his supporters (known now as "the cattle") are memeing about that as if it was a good thing. This is despite, y'know, Johnny Bravo being a parody of misogynistic, fragile masculinity. So a perfect fit, heh.
In other news, G7 countries offered money for Brazil to deal with the Amazon (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49479470). Bolsonaro said no and bitched about colonialism.
This is a beautifully succinct and poetic summary of basically the whole situation. You can even generalise it!QuoteIn other news, [thing involving Brazil]. Bolsonaro said no and bitched about colonialism.
All in all, I'm surprised he even tries to fight the fires in the first place (unless something of monetary value is threatened, OH WAIT, THE AMAZON HAS MONETARY VALUE!!!!!!!!11!!11! just in ways Bolsonaro apparently can't comprehend!) since theres clearly a 'let it burn' attitude/vibe I'm getting.The ranchers are paying more money than the loggers.
If anyone has wondered why I haven't talked about this sooner: it's because I'm too damn angry.*Sends hugs*
If anyone has wondered why I haven't talked about this sooner: it's because I'm too damn angry.
Didn't the fire started on communist Bolivia after some guys tried to clear a a part of the rainforest with fire and got out of hand? Not much twitter or news here, more pressing matters you see.
There's not really one fire at this point; it's several fires burning all at once. Some are in Bolivia, yes.
On one hand, the standing in the corridor for an hour and only meeting Trump for seconds either says that he has a fan cult of Trump that Trump would prefer the world to have and on the other, it seems like a hell of a burn (intentionally or not) by trump. And I guess on another, if he intended to get Trumps attention for more than all of 17 seconds, it just reveals how bad he is at diplomacy or something.
God, I thought the Brazilian press was going to be able to turn this in some kind of win for Pocket.
It was not possible. The sheer amount of embarrassment for being Brazilian is overwhelming. And I was around for 7-1.
"giddy schoolgirl" and "favorite rockstar" haven't gone together since probably the 1980s
"giddy schoolgirl" and "favorite rockstar" haven't gone together since probably the 1980s
Remember; Kanye West is the greatest living rockstar in the world.
I don't think he's actually running."giddy schoolgirl" and "favorite rockstar" haven't gone together since probably the 1980s
Remember; Kanye West is the greatest living rockstar in the world.
Also possibly the next president of the USA iirc right?
I don't think he's actually running."giddy schoolgirl" and "favorite rockstar" haven't gone together since probably the 1980s
Remember; Kanye West is the greatest living rockstar in the world.
Also possibly the next president of the USA iirc right?
Kanye West has said he is serious about a run for the presidency, but that it will not happen until 2024.
“If I decide to do it, it will be done, I’m not going to try,” the rapper and fashion designer said in a radio interview with Power 92 Chicago’s DJ Pharris, adding: “Yes, 100 per cent it could happen… 2024.”
West first announced plans for a White House bid during an appearance at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I have decided in 2020 to run for president,” he declared at the time.
(Also, since I'm likely to sign off for tonight soon, I'd like to apologize -- I came off much more aggressively at Teneb than was warranted by his post, just because of frustrations with ways I had seen other people post. It's not right to take that sort of thing out on the first person I see taking a roughly related stance in a medium that I can actually respond in, and yet that's exactly what I did.)It's fine. I am somewhat aggressive here because my country has been taken over by fascists and I'm angry that it seems like the same will happen to Bolivia.
democracy is sus when bad man win electionI tried thinking of a response to this for a few minutes but I did eventually realize that since it's just mockery --and brings nothing new to the table, at that-- there's not actually all that much that can be responded to without simply flailing around.
democracy is sus when bad man offers a second election
democracy is safe when no election and military rule
democracy is safe when lithium goes north
A coup isn't necessarily bad, and it would be definitely better to wait for that second election, but now we can't know. Maybe he would just ignore the problem and never do it.
I just want Brazil to fix our damn voting machines already.
Well the military merely suggested him to renounce.Which you might recognize as a coup, no matter the intention or circumstances involved.
my post is, as PM astutely noted pure mockery devoid of any information scratch that of my opinion towards the coupThis really appears to me to be based off of a refusal to take anyone else in good faith — I’ve been trying my best to engage with other people in the thread honestly, but you’re basically making up a narrative out of whole cloth here that you’re going to get dogpiled on if you dare to invest any effort when that quite clearly isn’t the case based on the overall discussion in the thread. Like... look, I don’t spend a lot of time in the political threads down here because I often have similar worries, it’s not like you HAVE to immerse yourself in these discussions, but to come in and throw nothing out but mockery and accusations and ignore what isn’t favorable to said accusations and then further act like that’s the right thing to do is something that I find myself resenting somewhat, because it’s largely my own efforts I feel are being ignored. I mean, like, yeah, Baal is definitely mostly throwing out anti-socialist invective, but that’s pretty much just him
there is no point in making a long detailed post if the responses will amount to accusing me of supporting deadly evil communist dictatorships. discussion doesnt work if nobody wants to change their minds
besides, i really do not see what kind of discussion could this become. there's not much to be fucking said about a literal military coup to oust a democratically elected president. to claim that the coup was a good thing for democracy without good reason is the hottest take of the week.
i will not bother to put any effort into debating arguments that do not exist.
https://twitter.com/CNNArgentina/status/1194399284210348033
This doesn't bode well for her declarations of herself as just pursuing another election immediately.
Or could just be making a show of it, because politics.No. In South America, reactionaries are showing extreme christian fanaticism. Hell, the Brazilian Minister of Exterior (I guess it would be minister of foreign relations or whatever staters call theirs) is often called the Templar Minister because of how he spouts fanatic rethoric (including Deus Vult)... and he still pales compared to the Pocket Fascist himself.
I'm sorry about that. I'd been pretty frustrated yesterday, so that's probably where the belligerence came from. Below I have made a post mostly devoid of mockery.my post is, as PM astutely noted pure mockery devoid of any information scratch that of my opinion towards the coupThis really appears to me to be based off of a refusal to take anyone else in good faith — I’ve been trying my best to engage with other people in the thread honestly, but you’re basically making up a narrative out of whole cloth here that you’re going to get dogpiled on if you dare to invest any effort when that quite clearly isn’t the case based on the overall discussion in the thread. Like... look, I don’t spend a lot of time in the political threads down here because I often have similar worries, it’s not like you HAVE to immerse yourself in these discussions, but to come in and throw nothing out but mockery and accusations and ignore what isn’t favorable to said accusations and then further act like that’s the right thing to do is something that I find myself resenting somewhat, because it’s largely my own efforts I feel are being ignored. I mean, like, yeah, Baal is definitely mostly throwing out anti-socialist invective, but that’s pretty much just him
there is no point in making a long detailed post if the responses will amount to accusing me of supporting deadly evil communist dictatorships. discussion doesnt work if nobody wants to change their minds
besides, i really do not see what kind of discussion could this become. there's not much to be fucking said about a literal military coup to oust a democratically elected president. to claim that the coup was a good thing for democracy without good reason is the hottest take of the week.
i will not bother to put any effort into debating arguments that do not exist.
His canditature wasn't legal to being with. He made a referendum to ask if he could run for a FOURTH term and he lost, but then simply wiped his ass with the results and asked his friends of the supreme court to allow him anyway.
Then as he was lossing he tried to tamper with the elections and got caught....
Well the military merely suggested him to renounce. (...) People protested in the streets until he resigned. The police and military refused orders to suppress protesters with deadly force...
Well the military merely suggested him to renounce. (...) People protested in the streets until he resigned. The police and military refused orders to suppress protesters with deadly force...
Your two claims contradict each other. If the military decides to suggest things in political matters then the suggestion is intrinsically a threat. If Morales said no I'm pretty sure he'd get to experience what Allende did at the hands of Pinochet (yet another persuasive military chap). There's a reason why he's in exile in Mexice right now. The army & police have already rounded up multiple members of government. On what authority are they acting if not their own? They rule Bolivia now. They decide who gets to become puppet President.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/10/evo-morales-concedes-to-new-elections-after-serious-irregularities-found (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/10/evo-morales-concedes-to-new-elections-after-serious-irregularities-found)
https://www.thenation.com/article/bolivia-elections-morales/ (https://www.thenation.com/article/bolivia-elections-morales/)
https://www.lostiempos.com/actualidad/pais/20171129/tribunal-constitucional-avala-reeleccion-indefinida-evo-morales (https://www.lostiempos.com/actualidad/pais/20171129/tribunal-constitucional-avala-reeleccion-indefinida-evo-morales)
https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/10/actualidad/1573386514_263233.html (https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/10/actualidad/1573386514_263233.html)
https://www.notimerica.com/politica/noticia-bolivia-detenidos-25-miembros-tribunales-electorales-irregularidades-comicios-presidenciales-20191111172213.html (https://www.notimerica.com/politica/noticia-bolivia-detenidos-25-miembros-tribunales-electorales-irregularidades-comicios-presidenciales-20191111172213.html)
"Why would Bolivians support the best leader they've ever had and the only one from the majority ethnic group? IT *clap* MAKES *clap* NO *clap* SENSE *clap*"Well, they did vote down the term limit override. I would argue that instead of pushing for a fourth (?) term, Morales should have just named a political successor and tried to get them elected.
'no u coup'(https://media0.giphy.com/media/Vg0JstydL8HCg/source.gif)
This, a thousand times this. It would probably meant the extension of the communist regime but it would also probably made it had a lot cleaner face both internaly and internationally."Why would Bolivians support the best leader they've ever had and the only one from the majority ethnic group? IT *clap* MAKES *clap* NO *clap* SENSE *clap*"Well, they did vote down the term limit override. I would argue that instead of pushing for a fourth (?) term, Morales should have just named a political successor and tried to get them elected.
'no u coup'*gif snipped for memory on mobile*
The military didn't overthrew him, not directly at least. All this is the result of his own, very horrible choices and forcing himself on the presidency after openly questioning the whole darn country about it and getting a NOPE for an answer. And after that then the coup per se was consumed by trying to steal the elections ffs.
Then he "run for his life", something he himself described a few year ago as something only the criminals do.
Now, on a personal level I wasn't mad or anything ar your response, in fact I found it genuinely funny, I didn't take it as bad as you seem to think.
Well the military merely suggested him to renounce.
There's a reason why he's in exile in Mexico* right now. The army & police have already rounded up multiple members of government.* fixed typo
All I'm saying is that I heard something about it, you clearly know a lot more than I do about what's going on.I don't know much either, but the situation is bad and it's not getting better. This is in no way an improvement.
This is a deleted tweet from the now-interim president of Bolivia (https://web.archive.org/web/20191113000241/https:/twitter.com/JeanineAnez/status/1192048025998446593). But internet archive delivers. And what does it say? Why that natives are not true natives because they have jeans and shoes.
The indigenous people of Bolivia are totally not fucked. Nope. Not one bit.
This is a deleted tweet from the now-interim president of Bolivia (https://web.archive.org/web/20191113000241/https:/twitter.com/JeanineAnez/status/1192048025998446593). But internet archive delivers. And what does it say? Why that natives are not true natives because they have jeans and shoes.
The indigenous people of Bolivia are totally not fucked. Nope. Not one bit.
While it’s seeming pretty damn coup right now, that’s not really a source I trust — more or less a totally obscure news site with an anonymous SoundCloud, no way of verifying its claims, and so far as I can tell no verification from anywhere else.Hey now, I just bring the news, I ain't the associated press.
Mr Morales, a former coca farmer, was first elected in 2005 and took office in 2006, the country's first leader from the indigenous community.
He won plaudits for fighting poverty and improving Bolivia's economy, but drew controversy by defying constitutional limits to run for a fourth term in October's election.
Wonder what I'll get accused of being for making this post.You aren't buying into the CIA, you ARE a member of it. Confess and hand over the cancer gun!
Wonder what I'll get accused of being for making this post.You aren't buying into the CIA, you ARE a member of it. Confess and hand over the cancer gun!
I guess I don't know much about racial politics in Bolivia, but it does look like Bolivia is majority mestizo rather than strictly majority indigenous, which I know is a meaningful difference in a lot of LatAm countries.While I am speaking from what I have observed here in Brazil, I think it carries over to our neighbours: for the longest time, being black or indigenous was considered rather shameful, so a lot of people identified as "mestizo/mestiço" instead. Sure, there's a lot of miscigenation, but unlike in places like the US what "race" you are is mostly defined by physical features rather than ancestry.
What replaced it being shit doesn't absolve the previous government of also being shit.
Warning: what follows is an anecdote, with no citations. But it may be informative.
I know somebody who spent time in Bolivia in the mid-2000s to early/mid 2010s, mainly for nonprofits in the sphere of indigenous rights. (They also worked in a few other South American countries.) This person was incredibly enthusiastic about Evo winning the presidency, but in the early 2010s grew to dislike Evo. While he did do a lot of good, he also helped build up a now powerful & corrupt police and military, and in at least a few instances had opponents (to the left of him, generally cases of local resistance to 'development' projects) beaten and/or killed.
When learning of the recent events in the country, this person was split. Evo had indeed lost the confidence of many of the non-elite, but the ones who were going to benefit the most from his ouster (and indeed we are already beginning to see this) are the elites that he took to task back in the 2000s. His opponent in the election is literally one of the old white elites who were president in the bad old days - indeed, is the very person who Evo beat to become president.
In short...What replaced it being shit doesn't absolve the previous government of also being shit.
This kind of applies, though perhaps it's more of a case of a possibly good person getting corrupted over time (Evo was president for more than a decade, after all) which then leads to things regressing back to the bad times before.
Edit: I should add that this person loved/loves a lot of what Evo did. He helped fight back (a bit) against the exploitation of the country by outside companies, at least by getting a much better profit share for Bolivia. E.g. what happened with the oil companies early on. But unbridled exploitation was still pretty much the norm, just under terms more favorable for Bolivia.
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/27/operation-condor-2-coup-trump-nicaragua-mexico/ (https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/27/operation-condor-2-coup-trump-nicaragua-mexico/)Called it with the thread title!
On the one hand, cartels are definitely a threat to the national security of both Mexico and the USA.A quick skim through other news on that website basically makes me think "tankies 2.0", so I highly doubt it. Let's see, Chinese concentration camps are made up by US interests (https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/), Hong Kong protestors are really violent US-backed stooges based on xenophobia and nativist self-interest (https://thegrayzone.com/2019/08/17/hong-kong-protest-washington-nativism-violence/), and so forth, so I'd put it as a very firm [citation needed].
On the other hand, are Trump planning to invade Mexico?
The way you wrote it I picture a bunch of cows with torches in hand starting fires along with some farmers.Oh my god yes. Thank you Baal.
One Brazilian created a webpage to attribute blame for the South American country’s various ills to a cast of Hollywood stars.
In it Tom Hanks was blamed for Brazil’s high taxes, Penélope Cruz for unemployment, Daniel Radcliffe for impunity, Johnny Depp for deforestation and Kate Winslet for its education crisis.
Harrison Ford found himself charged with responsibility for Brazil’s Kafkaesque bureaucracy while the government debt was the fault of Adam Sandler.
Is that a baby bottle? lol, and dunno what's with the character looking down his pants, obviously looking at a particular male member, but I don't know the context of the cartoon character.This is a JPEG. All montagemanship is if the highest quality. On the item theres an image of Leo, The Sexual Apparatus and Others, a cock baby bottle, and trees.Leo is using the cock baby bottle to set fire to the trees. The trees are burning.
BREAKING NEWS: Actual Nazi government doesn't even pretend to be anything else now (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51149224)
BREAKING NEWS: Actual Nazi government doesn't even pretend to be anything else now (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51149224)He must shop at I'm not Hitler
Well the guy did got fired.
Fascism is rising all over due to the disintegration of the capitalist world order - Brazil's specific case is merely that of an early adopter.I argue that fascism is just late-stage capitalism institutionalising the informal compact between corporate and state power
I argue that fascism is just late-stage capitalism institutionalizing the informal compact between corporate and state powerI'm trying to not be convinced at the spot, but it sounds incredibly well descriptive of the recent events. Is there any reading on that?
That's true, but incomplete. There are lots of countries which institutionalized that which aren't fascist, though they are typically authoritarian to some degree. Fascism's specific nature of totally denying reality and the qualities listed in Eco's Ur-Fascism is spawned from the damage space where liberalism has been burned away.Fascism is rising all over due to the disintegration of the capitalist world order - Brazil's specific case is merely that of an early adopter.I argue that fascism is just late-stage capitalism institutionalising the informal compact between corporate and state power
I'm trying to not be convinced at the spot, but it sounds incredibly well descriptive of the recent events. Is there any reading on that?I don't remember anything specific off the top of my head, but if you look into corporatism and the economics of fascist Italy or Nazi Germany there'll be lots of reading material there. The short end of the stick there was that a few dominant corporations were given state support to crush their domestic competition, but in turn were subordinated to official state purposes.
Here's a good topic I don't often see discussed, what are the common causes of the recent extreme right-wing push world wide? Is the heat "melting peoples brain" and making them more violent like the Arab Spring deal people used to talk about?
I would argue it's actually otherwise and it's a huge far left push that's sweeping gullible people everywhere.
I agree with MSH though, that this is part of the definition but not sufficient, because there are systems like China or Singapore where the above describes the economy but they are not fascist. I still ponder what *exactly* fascism is, but I imagine that's part of the problem. Hard to recognise fascism until you've sleepwalked into itYeah, there's certainly more at play here.
Yeah, there's certainly more at play here.You could find all of those things in a monarchy, a colonial democracy, a liberal dictatorship or a communist dictatorship too though, wouldn't make them fascist. There are multiple flavours of authoritarian regime from which we may taste the various rainbows of pain
On China tough? I'm sure it is down the fascism route hard, with term limits abolished, concentration camps and civil unrest repression to boot.
I mean, back when term limits were remove I was convinced, but after the whole Meng Hongwei shitshow it's clear they have no respect for international cooperation or due process.Nah he's not lost heaven's mandate. Besides, revolution would just create the chaos to place a new strongman in power
Let's hope Xi is public disgraced as his antecessor and they roll-back the most egregious violations of individual liberty. Or, you know, revolution.
I still ponder what *exactly* fascism is, but I imagine that's part of the problem. Hard to recognise fascism until you've sleepwalked into it
Fascism came out of WWI. Consider the type of wartime powers WWI governments used. Commandeer all industry, propaganda, hate the enemy/outsider, forced conformity: "disloyal" people outed as spies/traitors, everyone indoctrinated to comply with expanding state power. Fascism can pretty much be summed up as the "Forever WWI" model of government.Still doesn't distinguish it from a lot of other authoritarian governments
The fascists looked at the "total war" model of WWI and considered it to be the next stage of social development, with a social darwinistic bent. The idea was that if you didn't go full-fascist (total war economy/society) then you'd be over-run by other states that did it. Basically it's an attempt to unify military+political into one system. This is why fascist leaders are so keen on wearing military uniforms. The "ultimate" form of fascism would thus be one in which there's no concept of a civilian: everyone would have a unit and designation within the state apparatus and there's always a clear chain of command.The more I look into it the more I find fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Francoist Spain to be different kinds of fascism even from each other, while states like Singapore or Portugal had regimes which looked distinctly fascist, but seem to have escaped the branding largely for marketing purposes. Even today stuff like nation-state darwinism is still in use today, albeit couched in terms of economics & geopolitics instead of biology, but I wouldn't call the USA fascist. I suppose it's like communism, in that the surest sign of a communist government is self-identification; most all else may vary. But I do agree totally on the militiarization of everyone and everything for the never-ending war, but it does brush awfully close to the never-ending revolution
Here's a good topic I don't often see discussed, what are the common causes of the recent extreme right-wing push world wide? Is the heat "melting peoples brain" and making them more violent like the Arab Spring deal people used to talk about?
I see it as a response to world governments getting more and more tall and top heavy and people on the ground feeling more and more like they have no voice.
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That's more accurate on how it's done in real life.
Assuming that:
Left = Share what other people have (no matter if they want or not) with strangers
Right = Protect what you have against strangers
"Why are those filthy plebs taking our factories away? Why don't they make their own? Maybe they'll want to steal our slaves next? I'm literally shaking rn"That's more accurate on how it's done in real life.
Assuming that:
Left = Share what other people have (no matter if they want or not) with strangers
Right = Protect what you have against strangers
The main difference in facism and communism is that in the first you include the armed forces and leave the industry outside (but really don't), in the second in theory you don't include the armed forces but in practice you will always do. The communism has always been imposed by arms or be held by them and you either integrate them deep into the party or have your ass kicked out by them.
"Why are those filthy plebs taking our factories away? Why don't they make their own? Maybe they'll want to steal our slaves next? I'm literally shaking rn"There's a godly quote from a Victorian industrialist complaining in the papers that the new anti-child labour laws were going to empty his factories of cheap workers. The thought that these children would be going to school and becoming the engineers making him vastly wealthier anyways never crosses his mind
I have family in Colombia, they are embracing themselves for a Venezuelan Refugee wave. Also Maduro is supporting terrorist attacks in the north in an attempt to try and force a military intervention from Colombia into Venezuela as a distraction from the economic collapse.This is the only post I managed to dig up regarding Latin America by ChristianWeiseth. While it is comical, especially in hindsight, I do think that in general the dude is simply misinformed, potentially because of the bias he has towards Colombia, a country that certainly picked up a thing or two from fascists over the years. All in all, I'm willing to assume that he (or she) is simply in the dark about Latin America.
Colombia’s powerful former president Álvaro Uribe has announced that he will resign from his senate seat in order to focus on battling a widening supreme court investigation.
(Link: Colombian army killed thousands more civilians than reported, study claims)
Uribe, a hardliner who led a brutal campaign against leftist rebels from 2002 to 2010, has long dodged accusations of involvement in paramilitary massacres that occurred during and before his tenure.
He could, however, come unstuck in the face of new charges of bribing and intimidating witnesses related to those death squad cases.
On Wednesday, Uribe accused the British intelligence agency MI6 of colluding with his former defence minister and eventual successor as president, Juan Manuel Santos, to supply recordings that implicate him in crimes.
“There are repeated allegations that the recordings were made by the British agency MI6, friends of Juan Manuel Santos,” he tweeted. “Foreign authorities in a ruse against me.”
“Foreign authorities in a ruse against me.”
A separate scandal led to the abolition of the country’s domestic intelligence agency in 2011 after it was revealed that Uribe had used it to spy on opposition members and journalists. Several witnesses in other cases have turned up dead.The department of security in Colombia had some very prominent scandals relating to murdering journalists / doing death threats against other journalists. Turns out they didn't survive the scandals. This is equivalent to something happening like the FBI having to be abolished because it was being used as the armed wing of the Trump Organization to discredit or assassinate opponents.
WaPo and NYT are both paywalled these days, putting an excerpt of the key bits is helpful, especially since each of us maybe gets 1 free article a month on each of those, so if we all look at that, we've all used our quota on that one article.
Maybe you can link some of the anti-Morales stuff.
Colombia's Supreme Court has detained Uribe (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/04/colombia-alvaro-uribe-supreme-court-house-arrest)
It's a bit of a shocker
The trial was hampered by the assassination of a witness, attempts to spy on the magistrate investigating Uribe and attempts by prominent allies to pressure the court into giving the far-right politician a pass.
It could all go wrong for sure, but conceding the election and saying it was fair isn't exactly a normal thing to do if you want to steal the election.
“We think that our comrade Evo has every right, if he so wishes, to return to the country and defend himself,” Arce said.Let's see what happens. 8)
On 4 December 2019, the OAS released its final report related to 20 October election, detailing what they called "deliberate" and "malicious" tactics to rig that election in favor of President Evo Morales.[21][22] Two subsequent independent non-peer-reviewed analyses of election data from different sources disagreed with the statistical analysis of election data presented by the OAS, with CEPR accusing OAS of doing a "basic coding error" resulting in what appeared to be inexplicable changes in trend.[23] OAS's counter-response stated that doing statistical exercises on what they described as falsified data does not prove the data is not false, and said that the counter-analyses do not address or discount other alleged evidence of fraud in the report.
One thing you're wrong about: Evo didn't resign willingly. It was only after the military suggested that unless he does so the country would fall to violence. So, it was more like a coup than a resignation.
Police in Bolivia have shot dead three men, including one identified by local officials as an Irish national, over an alleged plot to assassinate the country's president, Evo Morales.
The three were shot during a fierce gun battle after police uncovered an apparent plot which involved suspects believed to come from countries including Hungary and Croatia, as well as Ireland, government officials said yesterday.
Police attempted to arrest a group of men in the centre of Santa Cruz, an eastern Bolivian city and hub of anti-Morales sentiment, but they fled to a hotel where the shootout took place around 4am (9am BST), witnesses and police said.
The alleged assassins detonated a grenade inside the hotel, blowing out its windows during the gunfight, according to police.
Morales became the first president from Bolivia’s indigenous population in 2006 and presided over a commodities-fed economic boom in South America’s poorest country. The former leader of a coca growers union, he paved roads, sent Bolivia’s first satellite into space and curbed inflation.
Following more than a week of protests, the marchers staged a larger demonstration in which they sought to circumvent a police crackdown by forcefully holding Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca to march with them.[9] A group of female marchers grabbed Choquehuanca and insisted that he lead them through the police cordon that separated them from pro-government marchers so they could continue their journey to La Paz.
As the protesters entered the city, people in La Paz cheered them by waving Bolivian flags and white handkerchiefs. As a gesture of goodwill both police and riot control vehicles were withdrawn from their positions outside the presidential palace, while the information minister offered an official welcome to the protesters.
No offense but this is very anecdottal. By that rule of thumb I could claim, say, that Tom Hanks eats babies.
Not that I think that Evo's a saint but I'll need something hardier to take at face value a claim about anti-native death squads. Specially since the man's support comes mostly from rural communities
[The 2011 incident]
He definitely has had his fair share of opponents/obstacles killed (I know somebody well who has had several colleagues killed by him when he was president), though you are right that here he didn't go down that path.
"had his fair share of opponents/obstacles killed" clearly implies assassinations.
Okay, so I had the chance to have a chat with them, and looks like an apology is in order - my memory was off and I was conflating several countries together.
For Bolivia (and Evo) in particular, there was only one incident of note: a lowlands indigenous leader was a rising star and seen as a potential competitor/threat to Evo and MAS, even though he didn't oppose them. He was badly beaten/tortured (including several limbs broken) by the party and then left the limelight. Several others who had some level of popularity, both inside and outside MAS, were intimidated (but not beaten) into subservience.
(As to the main offenders in violence against indigenous colleagues since 2000, they were in Peru and Honduras- countries with rather different political situations.)
CNN’s local channel in Chile projected independents would win 45 seats, Chile Vamos would gain 39, the centre-left 25, the far-left 28 and a small coalition would take one seat. Seventeen seats have been reserved for the country’s indigenous communities.
Necro-posting ‘cause it looks like Bolsonaro is on the way out, to be replaced with Lula, and I’ll be lambasted for bringing politics into emotion threads if I post there.
The BBC's radio blurb says he won 50.9% of the vote (so 5% apart) and that Bolsonaro hasn't conceded yet. He is probably looking at options to win "legally" instead of using military force.Indeed. I suspect/fear it may not be over until they actually lever him out of the Planalto, possibly with a crowbar.
Bolsonaro's no longer conceding the election and is claiming fraud due to faulty voting machines.And there it is! Took him longer than I expected
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63724713
Bolsonaro's no longer conceding the election and is claiming fraud due to faulty voting machines.Oh dear, it happened after all :(. At least the dream was sweet when it lasted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63724713
Keter class SCP: United States of America.I live in a constant state of America
President Pedro Castillo just attempted to overthrow the Peruvian government by illegally dissolving Congress and imposing a national curfew, along with trying to diddle the prosecutor's office on the side to disrupt their corruption investigations against him. This barely lasted two hours before the resignation of most of his cabinet, and declarations of protest from Congress, the constitutional court, and the military, culminating in his own arrest and replacement by the vice president.
The Guardian news story (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/07/peru-president-detained-pedro-castillo-coup)
In Surinam, political parties are trying to reform the election laws, because the current laws are deemed discriminatory.That's pretty flawed, though. In such an absolute form, it means that, eg, Russia could disqualify candidates in Suriname at will by conducting show trials in absentia. Better to limit it to convictions which are valid in Suriname, but establish parity with trusted partner countries, which would certainly include Holland.
One part of the plan, brought forward by the VHP party, will be strongly opposed by president Brunswijk's party.
The VHP wants that elected officials can have no criminal convictions, whether it be in Surinam, or somewhere abroad.
This would mean that president Brunswijk can no longer be elected, nor can former president Bouterse.
Both have been convicted in absentia in the Netherlands for smuggling (huge amounts of) cocaine.