UNDERCOVER JOURNO BEFRIENDED CARLOS THE JACKAL

Undercover reporter Antonio Salas passed himself off as radical islamist Mohammed Abdullah

Carlos the Jackal was my friend

Spanish reporter Antonio Salas infiltrated an international terrorist group

and became a trusted confidant of one of the world's most infamous killers

The Guardian

10 Oct 2010

Few undercover reporters have been prepared to sacrifice as much as
the Spaniard who goes by the pseudonym of Antonio Salas. Circumcision
was just one hurdle in passing himself off as a radical Islamist and
infiltrating the shadowy, interconnected world of international
terrorism. "It was more painful than I expected. It is pretty
delicate for the first few days," Salas now admits, walking daintily
around a room at his Madrid publisher's offices. An invite to a
hammam bathhouse during his five years undercover had, he said,
persuaded him the operation was necessary.

Salas's identity undercover was Mohammed Abdullah, a Spanish-
Venezuelan with Palestinian grand-parents. He was convincing enough
to be invited on terrorist training courses and to become personal
webmaster to the most infamous of international terrorists, Carlos
the Jackal. That meant regular telephone conversations with a man
thought to be responsible for more than 80 deaths.

The Jackal would call from La Santé prison in Paris, where he is
still serving a life sentence for murder. "He was very worried about
my security," says Salas. "It is a strange sensation when a
self-confessed assassin like Carlos the Jackal does that, and offers
their friendship."

Salas decided to go undercover with his hidden cameras after the
bombings that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains on 11 March
2004. He had been as stunned as other Spaniards by the blasts,
despite the country's experience of Basque terrorist group Eta. "I
wanted to know what goes through the mind of a person who is capable
of killing for an ideology."

Salas's previous undercover investigations – as a skinhead supporter
of Real Madrid football club, and in the world of
prostitute-trafficking – had taken him to the heart of some of the
most violent groups in Spain. "My aim was to understand terrorism in
the same way that I came to understand skinheads or
prostitute-traffickers."

He learned Arabic and invented an elaborate cover story involving a
dead wife: 25-year-old Dalal Mujahad from Jenin, tragically killed by
an Israeli bullet while pregnant with their child. The real Dalal,
whose name he found in a newspaper archive, had died in 2004, when a
bullet entered her house in a shoot-out. In case anyone decided to
investigate, he added a Romeo and Juliet touch: the marriage had been
kept secret because his (false) mother's family, from the nearby
village of Burkin, backed Al-Fatah, while Dalal's family were part of
Hamas. Her death, he would claim, had pushed him towards radical
terror.

"I took photos of myself in Burkin and in Jenin. Then I asked Fatima,
a girl I met when investigating prostitute-trafficking, to let me
take photos with her as if she was my wife. We mocked up an apartment
in Barcelona to look as though it was in Palestine and took photos."
Salas also wrote out the Qur'an by hand, and considers his conversion
to Islam to be genuine. He treasures the small booklet in which he
wrote Islam's most sacred text: "It helped convince people," he says.
"Not many people carry their own, hand-copied version."

The final part of his cover was to become a pro-jihad journalist,
contributing to radical publications. He travelled around the Arab
world, from Egypt to Jordan and the Lebanon, writing articles that
would help to seal his militant credentials. "I even wrote a couple
of books," he says. It did not take long to gain a reputation. "I
remember the first time I dropped off some newsletters at a mosque in
Tenerife, the police arrived with flashing lights and sirens and they
soon had me pinned against a wall."

Salas picked the Venezuela of President Hugo Chávez as his base. "I
had been told Venezuela was a mecca of international terrorism," he
says. "The Farc group from Colombia was there, as were people from
Eta." Numerous other small revolutionary groups had also set up under
Chávez's benevolent gaze. There, in what the New Yorker journalist
Jon Lee Anderson calls "the parallel reality that is the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela today", Salas established himself as yet
another niche radical – flying the flag for Palestine and running a
local branch of Hezbollah. More importantly, he got close to the
family of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – Carlos the Jackal.

"I only really knew about Carlos because of the films about him,"
admits Salas, who is in his mid-30s and too young to recall the The
Jackal's bloody kidnaps and assassinations in the 70s and 80s. "But
here was an icon of international terrorism. He was Venezuelan, and a
convert to Islam who had fought for Palestine. It was perfect for my
profile." He sought out The Jackal's two younger brothers, Vladimir
and Lenin – names given to them by their Leninist lawyer father.
"Vladimir is the more active defender of his brother," he says.
"Lenin is a lot more discreet. Later I met his mother, his nephews
and got in with the family."

He first spoke with The Jackal by chance, when Carlos rang from
prison while Salas was with the family. "We started out talking in
Arabic and then in Spanish. I called him Ilich or 'Comandante Salim',
which is his Arabic name. He speaks six or seven languages and is
very intelligent. We would talk for up to an hour. He would not let
me ask questions – they made him angry. So I just let him talk. He
even confessed some of his killings, and I have that taped."

Salas began to work on a website that, among other things, campaigned
to have The Jackal repatriated to Venezuela. "To prove the website
was close to Ilich, I was given access to a trunk that had been
closed for 30 or 40 years – with his school reports and family
photos. I spent a lot of time in Vladimir's house, classifying the
material." Salas would post texts to La Santé; The Jackal sent them
back with neat, handwritten corrections. He also sent prison
photographs to put on the site.

By tracking the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera, Venezuelan TV and the
internet for mentions of The Jackal, Salas discovered that Chávez
himself was one of his biggest fans. "For him, Carlos is not a
terrorist but a revolutionary – a model internationalist, like Che
Guevara. Just as Che went to fight for other peoples, so Ilich went
to fight for the Palestinians. Whenever Chávez mentioned The Jackal,
I would record it and send it to him, which he loved."

Not that Salas agrees with Chávez's view of The Jackal. "He is
considered responsible for 82 killings; I don't call that being a
revolutionary. I call him a terrorist." – though he would probably
not, he admits, use the term to his face. "It helps that he is in
jail."

Salas updated The Jackal's website from cybercafes, using a different
one every time. "I imagine Mossad, the CIA and MI6 being driven mad
by the fact that The Jackal's page was updated from Portugal one day,
Syria another, and from other countries."

Salas was even invited to visit La Santé, but he passed up the offer.
As an independent journalist who pays his own way and has no back-up,
he must use his real identity when going through frontiers or
security controls. "I have never worked for any intelligence service,
political party, or even for any one media outlet," says Salas, who
produces his own undercover films and publishes books on his
investigations. "I only work for my readers. They are the ones who
end up paying for my investigations. I work alone, using my own money
and passport. Journalistically, it would have been great to meet
Ilich, but I couldn't do it."

In Venezuela's fringe community of political extremists, he bumped
into people from Eta, the Túpac Amaru (a group of armed Venezuelan
radicals who support Chávez), and other groups. Repeated requests for
hands-on training eventually saw him invited to a camp in Venezuela,
where he learned to handle pistols, rifles and machine guns,
including a Kalashnikov AK-103, an Uzi sub-machine gun, the American
M4 carbine and a Belgian-designed FN FAL. He also practised with a
sniper's telescopic sight and received explosives training. "I
learned all that a jihadist might need to take his message of terror
to a city in Europe or the United States," Salas says. "There was
nothing glamorous about it. It was just a question of learning to
kill better."

His instructors included a Venezuelan army colonel, though Salas
insists the camp was not run by the Chávez regime. "It just so
happened that my instructors, as well as being supporters of
revolutionary causes, were Venezuelan army officers."

His strangest discovery was the willingness of different extremist
groups to blindly embrace the varied causes of others, even when they
had nothing to do with one another. So it was that, as a supposed
Palestinian Islamist, he found himself appearing in a video for the
Túpac Amaru. Salas stood manfully beside leader Alberto Carías
clutching a Heckler & Koch MP5-A3 sub-machine gun, as the latter
urged armed revolutionary groups across South America to join forces.

Salas came close to blowing his cover only once, when he met US
journalist Jon Lee Anderson, who was in Venezuela promoting his Che
Guevara biography. It was a nerve-racking encounter. "When he said he
had been to Burkin and started naming people there, I feared my cover
was gone."

Anderson remembers the meeting: "Burkin is an amazing place in the
hills above Jenin. It is said to have the finest olive oil in the
world. I remember thinking there was something odd [about Abdullah];
he was cautious around me and flustered, but Caracas is full of
wackos. It didn't occur to me to think he was a plant."

Far from being made world-weary or cynical by his exposure to such
violent worlds, Salas remains almost naively optimistic about the
results of his investigations – which have spawned Spanish
best-sellers, popular documentaries, even a feature film. After his
previous two books, he says, he received letters from people who had
given up being skinheads or frequenting prostitutes. "I hope for the
same thing with this," he says. "In Spain and Latin America there are
a lot of adolescents – many of whom I saw arrive at the mosque for
the first time as children – who will feel the draw of violence in a
few years' time."

So what conclusions does Salas draw from rubbing shoulders with
international terror? His answer is coloured by the fact that half a
dozen people he met during his investigation have since died – often
violently. "I don't justify violence, but I can understand it. I
never found any glamour or sophistication in that world, nor anyone
especially intelligent – except for The Jackal. Terrorists really
have only two ends – they either die or go to jail. You have to be a
bit stupid to do that."

HIP-HOP AND PEOPLES STRUGGLE IN VENEZUELA

Venezuela: The Hip Hop Movement Gets Organized
Venezuela Analysis

Over the 17, 18 and 19 of December the first conference of activists and militants of the Venezuelan Hip Hop movement was held. Convened and organized by the Hip Hop Revolution collective and with the participation of activists from over 8 states from the west of the country, the [congress] discussed and debated the creation of urban art schools, a joint project of the HHR Collective and the Ministry of Communes.

For three days at the headquarters of INCES [the National Institute of Socialist Education and Training] in La Azulita, Merida state, workshops were held on political education, music production, screening of documentaries (provided by the National Film Archive), group discussions and the creation of the definitive curriculum of the urban art schools, whose classes began over this period.

During the meeting a joint statement was drafted which we reproduce below:

Hip Hop is one expression of the creative power of the people. It is a culture that originally emerged from conditions of poverty, in the most neglected, marginalized and oppressed sectors of society. We view ourselves as a resistance movement that confronts capitalism and its system of domination. We view ourselves as the successors of the historical class struggle that led our people to their first nation-wide rebellion in 1814, the first act of genuine rebellion of an insurgent people who spilled into the streets to destroy the society that screws us.

As a tiny part of the people, we do not view our movement as a form of isolated struggle, we recognize our origins and we join with the collective construction of our neighborhoods and communities for a fully just society.

We realize that the struggle of our movement begins within ourselves; we must try to destroy our individualities and understand that alone no progress is possible. Our culture is collective from its roots, for this reason we look beyond the four elements of our movement, we view our cultural creation as an act of freedom that can neither be bought nor sold, traded nor negotiated; it is simply for living and building.

Part of the commitment of our movement is to achieve horizontal organization; we rule out competition between partners and brothers, the proposal is to be inclusive, to convey the message to the people, our people.

We base our knowledge on experience and invention, producing and generating spaces of thought and discussion, pointing inward toward the internal, inviting our people to investigate, discuss, activate and collectivize, making art, inclusive art, that is born of the people, that is not seen in museums, that they still do not want to show, the art of collectively creating with words, painting, the body, sounds and the spirit.

We believe in collective discussion and construction, because "knowledge" and the so-called "intellectuals" and "middle class thinking" have screwed over the world. We choose and identify with the "uneducated" people, with their unwritten words, with their unstudied knowledge, with their unanswered questions, with their hunger without food, their homes without a home.

We are committed to the transfer of knowledge and action to the older and younger generations. Our shared project of the popular urban art school is an option we propose as a grain of sand towards new thinking and the construction of a new society, where neither race nor gender nor religion, nor training are separated, but are amalgamated into one piece, in one territory and in permanent construction.

Committed and activated,
Epatu, Activate.


Translated by Kiraz Janicke for Venezuelanalysis.com

BRITISH RIGHT-WING PRESS ANNOYED AT CHAVEZ FOR THREATENING WAR WITH BRITAIN OVER LAS MALVINAS ('falkland islands')

Chavez:
“Get out of there, give the Malvinas
back to the Argentine people.
Enough already with the empire.”

Telegraph blog

It’s rather pathetic when a Third World dictator starts
ranting and raving like a caricature villain from a Bond
movie circa 1973. Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s
tedious Mini-Me in Latin America, has been raging against
British rule over the Falklands, in a show of solidarity
with the Peronist regime in Argentina. In a rather
hysterical televised speech worthy of Saddam himself, the
Butcher of Caracas and prominent state sponsor of terrorism
declared yesterday:

“The British are desperate for oil since their own fields
in the North Sea are now being depleted. When will England
stop breaking international law? Return the Malvinas to
Argentina!… The English are desperate, the Yankees are
desperate and here we have the biggest petroleum reserves
in the world.”

He’s also quoted by The Washington Post as saying:

“Get out of there, give the Malvinas back to the Argentine
people. Enough already with the empire.”

Of course this is not the first time Tehran’s little helper
has lectured London on the Falklands. Back in 2007, he
called for revenge against Britain for the Falklands War,
and boasted that he would use Russian and Iranian weapons
against the British if another task force was sent to the
South Atlantic, stating:

“If we had been united in the last war, we could have
stopped the old empire. Today we could sink the British
fleet.”

Chavez also threatened revenge for the sinking of the
Belgrano, and declared that British history was “stained
with the blood of South America’s indigenous people”.

In 2006, he said more of the same:

“We have to remember the Malvinas; how they were taken away
from the Argentines. Mr Blair, return the Malvinas to
Argentina… Do you think we still live in the times of the
British Empire or colonialism?”

In case Hugo Chavez hasn’t noticed, almost every inhabitant
of the Falkland Islands is British, and wants to remain
British. They have no wish to be governed by the yoke of
Argentina or bullied by the likes of madmen like Chavez.
They are our kith and kin and will not be left at the mercy
of foreign powers. An attack on the Falklands is no
different to an attack on the British mainland.

As I wrote earlier this week, Great Britain must be
prepared to defend the Falklands with full military force.
There are clear signs that both the current British
government and its likely successor will do so if a
threatened Argentine blockade of the islands is actually
implemented. The British Army may well be engaged in a huge
war in Afghanistan, but the resources of the Royal Navy
remain largely available for a major operation on the other
side of the world. Great Britain remains a formidable
maritime power, despite the defence cuts of the Labour
government, and its naval prowess is second only to that of
the United States and Russia.

If the Argentine regime does decide to pick a fight it will
be emphatically defeated, just as its predecessor was in
1982. And if Hugo Chavez is foolish enough to join them,
his dictatorship will share the same fate. Perhaps Chavez
will go the same way of General Galtieri, ending up on the
scrapheap of history. He should think about that before
embarking on another round of pitiful sabre-rattling.


And then they complain Obama and
Hilary are not supporting them

Telegraph blog

The transcript of Hillary Clinton’s press conference in
Buenos Aires with Argentine President Kristina Kirchner
last night, has just been released by the State Department,
and it is a real eye-opener. Her remarks represent an
astonishing propaganda coup for the Peronist regime in its
dispute with Britain over the Falklands, with Washington
brazenly backing its position.

Here’s a snippet:

QUESTION: (In Spanish) And for the Secretary, it’s about
the Falklands. The – President Fernandez talked about
possible friendly mediation. Would the U.S. be considered –
would the U.S. (inaudible) consider some kind of mediation
role between the UK and Argentina over the Falklands? Thank
you.

PRESIDENT DE KIRCHNER: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible) what
we have (inaudible) by both countries as a friendly country
of both Argentina and the UK, so as to get both countries
to sit down at the table and address these negotiations
within the framework of the UN resolutions strictly. We do
not want to move away from that in any letter whatsoever,
any comma, of what has been stated by dozens of UN
resolutions and resolutions by its decolonization
committee. That’s the only thing we’ve asked for, just to
have them sit down at the table and negotiate. I don’t
think that’s too much, really, in a very conflicted and
controversial world, complex in terms.

SECRETARY CLINTON: And we agree. We would like to see
Argentina and the United Kingdom sit down and resolve the
issues between them across the table in a peaceful,
productive way.

And another:

QUESTION: (In Spanish) Interpreter: The journalist was just
asking how the U.S. intends to negotiate to get the United
Kingdom to sit at the table and address the Malvinas issue.

SECRETARY CLINTON: As to the first point, we want very much
to encourage both countries to sit down. Now, we cannot
make either one do so, but we think it is the right way to
proceed. So we will be saying this publicly, as I have
been, and we will continue to encourage exactly the kind of
discussion across the table that needs to take place.

Hillary Clinton’s statements at this press conference are
highly significant, as they demonstrate a clear shift in US
policy from neutrality (last week’s position) towards
siding with the Argentine position of pressing for
negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
at the United Nations.

The Secretary of State, a highly skilled political
operator, knows exactly what she is doing here. She is
giving her full support for the official stance of Buenos
Aires, despite the fact that Great Britain has made it
clear that the sovereignty of the Falklands is
non-negotiable. She makes no reference at all to the fact
that Argentina recently threatened a blockade of the
Falklands, or that its close ally Venezuela has been
threatening war against Britain.

Hillary Clinton’s dire performance in Buenos Aires was not
only an appalling display of appeasement towards a corrupt
and authoritarian anti-American regime, which barely has
the support of 20 percent of the Argentinian people. It was
also an astonishing betrayal of the United Kingdom by her
closest ally, and yet another slap in the face for Britain
from the Obama administration.

Clinton has demonstrated, not the first time, strikingly
poor judgment as Secretary of State. While currying favour
with a third rate kleptocracy in Latin America, she is
alienating America’s most loyal and valuable friend at a
critically important time. She also underestimates the
resolve of the British people, who will never negotiate the
future of the Falkland Islands. If the Argentines want the
Falklands they will have to fight for them, and if they
choose to do so they will be emphatically defeated, just as
they were in 1982. Hillary Clinton can cry for Argentina if
she wants to, but the Falklands will be forever British.

FIDEL's COMMENTS ON COPENHAGEN

Reflections of Fidel:
The Moment of Truth

Translated by Granma International

NEWS arriving from the Danish capital paints a picture of
chaos. After planning an event in which around 40,000
people were to participate, the hosts have no way of
keeping their promise. Evo, who was the first of the ALBA
presidents to arrive there, expressed certain profound
truths emanating from the millenary culture of his people.

According to the news agencies, he affirmed that he had
received a mandate from the Bolivian people to oppose any
agreement if the final declaration fails not meet
expectations. He explained that climate change is not the
cause but the effect, that we have an obligation to defend
the rights of Mother Earth against the model of capitalist
development, the culture of life against the culture of
death. He spoke of the climate debt that the rich countries
must pay to the poor countries, and the return of
atmospheric space seized from the latter.

He described as "ridiculous" the figure of $10 billion
dollars offered per year up until 2012 when, in reality,
hundreds of billions of dollars are needed every year. He
also accused the United States of spending trillions of
dollars on exporting terrorism to Iraq and Afghanistan and
establishing military bases in Latin America.

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
addressed the Summit on December 16th, at 8:40 a.m. Cuban
time. He made a brilliant speech that received tremendous
applause. His remarks were categorical.

Contesting a document proposed to the Summit by the Danish
minister chairing the conference, he stated:

"…it is a text that comes from nothing, we do not accept
any other text unless it comes out of the working groups
which are the legitimate texts that have been discussed
with such intensity during these two years."

"There is a group of countries which believe themselves
superior to us from the South, to us from the Third World…"

"…we are not surprised: there is no democracy in the world
and we are here, once again, in the face of powerful
evidence of a world imperial dictatorship."

"…I was reading some of the slogans painted in the streets
by the young people…One: ‘Let’s not change the climate,
let’s change the system’…Another: ‘If the climate was a
bank, they would have saved it already.’"

"Obama… received the Nobel Peace prize virtually the same
day that he was sending an additional 30,000 soldiers to
kill innocent people in Afghanistan."

"We were raising our hands to accompany Brazil, India,
Bolivia and China, in their interesting position … but,
well, we were not given the floor…"

"The rich are destroying the Earth… do they have plans to
go to another planet?"

"Climate change is, without any doubt, the most devastating
environmental problem of the present century."

"The United States could amount to possibly 300 million
inhabitants; China has a population that is almost five
times larger than the United States. The United States
consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil per day. Chine
barely reaches 5 or 6 million barrels per day. One can’t
ask the same of the United States and China."

"… reducing contaminating gas emissions and achieving a
long-term cooperation agreement […] seems to have failed,
for now. What is the reason for that? […] the irresponsible
attitude and the lack of political will on the part of the
most powerful nations of the planet."

"…the gap that separates the rich countries from the poor
is still expanding despite the existence of the Millennium
Goals, the Monterrey Summit on finance, all of these
summits – as the president of Senegal said, denouncing a
great truth, promises and promises and promises that have
been unfulfilled, while the world continues along its
destructive path."

"…The total income of the 500 richest individuals on the
planet is greater than the income of the 416 million
poorest people."

"Infant mortality stands at 47 per 1,000 live births; but
the figure for the rich countries is just 5 ..."

"…For how long are we going to allow millions of children
to continue dying from curable diseases?"

"Some 2.6 billion people live without health services,"

"Brazilian Leonardo Boff wrote: ‘that the fittest survive
over the ashes of the weakest.’"

Jean Jacob Rousseau [sic] said: ""Between the weak and the
strong, it is freedom which oppresses." For this reason,
the empire talks of freedom, in order to invade, to murder,
to annihilate, to exploit, that is its freedom. And
Rousseau goes on: "it is the law which sets free."

"For how long are we going to allow armed conflicts that
massacre millions of innocent human beings, with the aim of
awarding the resources of other nations to the more
powerful ones?"

"Almost two centuries ago, Simón Bolívar, the Liberator
said:

‘If nature opposes, we will fight against her and make her
obey us.’"

"This planet is billions of years old, and has existed for
billions of years without us, the human race: that is to
say, it does not need us to exist. Now, we cannot live
without the Earth…"

Evo addressed the conference in the morning of today,
Thursday. His speech will also never be forgotten.

He very candidly opened his remarks by saying: "I wish to
say how upset we are over the lack of organization and the
delays in this international gathering…"

His basic ideas were the following:

"When we ask the hosts what is going on, […] we are told it
is the United Nations; when we ask the United Nations what
is going on, they say it is Denmark, so we don’t know who
is disorganizing this international event…" "…I’m very
shocked because only the effects and not the causes of
climate change are being discussed."

"If we fail to identify where the destruction of the
environment is coming from […] we will never be able to
solve this problem…"

"…two cultures are under discussion here: the culture of
life and the culture of death; the culture of death, which
is capitalism. We, the indigenous peoples, say that it is
living better, better at the cost of others.’"

"…exploiting others, plundering their natural resources,
assaulting Mother Earth, privatizing basic services…"

"…living well is living in solidarity, in equality, in
complementation, in reciprocity…"

"These two different ways of life, these two cultures of
life are in debate when we it comes to climate change, and
if we do not decide which is the better way of living or of
life, it is certain that we are never going to resolve this
issue, because we have problems with life: luxury and
consumerism damage humanity and sometimes we don’t want to
admit the truth in this kind of international event."

"…in our way of life being truthful is sacred, and we are
not practicing the truths here."

"…in our Constitution it reads ama sua, ama llulla, ama
quella, which means do not steal, do not lie, do not be
weak."

"…Mother Earth or Nature exist and will continue to exist
without the human race, but human beings can’t live without
planet Earth, therefore, it is our duty to defend the right
of Mother Earth."

"…I applaud the United Nations because this year, it has
finally established the International Day of Mother Earth."

"…a mother is sacred, a mother is our life; a mother cannot
be rented, cannot be sold or assaulted, she must be
respected."

"We have profound differences with the Western model, and
that is under discussion at this moment."

"We are in Europe, and you know that many Bolivian
families, many Latin American families come to Europe. Why
do they come here? To improve their living conditions. In
Bolivia, they might be earning $100 or $200 per month; but
that family, that person comes here to take care of an
elderly European grandfather or grandmother and earns
$1,000 a month."

"These are the asymmetries that exist among continents and
we are obliged to discuss ways in which to achieve a
certain equilibrium, […] reducing these profound
asymmetries that exist among families, among countries, and
especially continents."

""When […] our brothers and sisters come here to survive or
to improve their living conditions they are expelled. There
are papers which are known as repatriation documents […]
but when those elderly Europeans arrived in Latin America
all those years ago, they were never expelled. My families,
my brothers do not come here to seize control of mines, nor
do they possess thousands of hectares in order to become
landowners. In the past, no visas or passports were
required to come to Abya Yala, now called, America."

"…the rich nations should welcome all migrants who are
affected by climate change instead of forcing them to
return to their countries as they are doing at the moment…"

"…our obligation is to save all of humanity and not half of
humanity."

"…the FTAA, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, […] is not
a Free Trade Area of the Americas, but a free colonization
area of the Americas…"

Evo suggested the following questions, among others, for a
worldwide referendum on climate change:

"..Do you agree to reestablishing a harmonious relationship
with Nature, recognizing the rights of Mother Earth...?"

"…Are you in agreement with changing this system of
excessive consumerism and waste, that is, the capitalist
system...?"

"…Do you agree that the developed countries should reduce
and reabsorb their greenhouse gas emissions…?"

"…Do you agree on transferring everything that is currently
being spent in wars to create a budget higher than the
defense budget to tackle the problem of climate change…?"

As is widely known, the UN Agreement on Climate Change was
signed in the Japanese city of Kyoto in 1997. This protocol
obliged 38 industrialized nations to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions by a certain percentage in
relation to those emitted in 1990. The countries of the
European Union committed themselves to 8%, a move which
came into effect in 2005, when most of the signatory
countries had already ratified it. George W. Bush, then
president of the United States – the largest producer of
greenhouse gases and responsible for a quarter of total
emissions – had rejected the agreement from mid-2001
onward.

The other members of the United Nations continued with
their efforts. The research centers continued with their
work. It is now evident that a major disaster is
threatening our species. Perhaps the worst aspect is that
the blind egotism of a privileged and rich minority is
attempting to lay the burden of the necessary sacrifices on
the vast majority of the planet’s inhabitants.

That contradiction is reflected in Copenhagen. Thousands of
people are there, fiercely defending their points of view.

The Danish police are resorting to brutal methods to crush
resistance; many protesters are being preventively
arrested. I spoke on the phone with our Foreign Minister
Bruno Rodriguez, who was at a solidarity rally in
Copenhagen with Chávez, Evo, Lazo and other ALBA
representatives. I asked him who those people were that the
Danish police suppressed with such hate, twisting back
their arms and beating them repeatedly across the back. He
said they were Danish citizens and people from other
European nations as well as members of the social movements
who were demanding from the Summit an immediate solution to
deal with climate change. He also told me that debates in
the Summit were to continue until midnight. It was already
night in Copenhagen when I spoke with him. The time
difference is six hours.

Our comrades in the Danish capital have informed us that an
even worse situation is expected tomorrow morning, Friday
18th. At 10:00 a.m. the UN Summit is to be adjourned for
two hours while the Danish prime minister meets with 20
heads of state invited by him to discuss "global problems"
with Obama. That is what they have called the meeting,
which is aimed at imposing an agreement on climate change.

Even though all of the official delegations are to take
part, only "invited guests" will be allowed to express
their views. Of course, neither Chávez nor Evo are among
those entitled to express their opinions. The idea is to
give the illustrious Nobel Laureate an opportunity to read
his previously drafted speech, preceded by the decision to
de adopted in that meeting to postpone the agreement until
the end of next year in Mexico City. The social movements
will not be permitted to attend. After that show, the
"Summit" will resume in the plenary hall until its
ignominious closure.

As television channels have broadcast the footage, the
world has been able to see the fascist methods used against
the people in Copenhagen. The protesters, young people in
the main, who have been repressed, have earned the
solidarity of the peoples.

Despite the maneuvers and unprincipled lies of the leaders
of the empire, the moment of truth is drawing closer. Their
own allies are increasingly losing confidence in them. In
Mexico, as in Copenhagen or anywhere else in the world,
they will be met by the growing resistance of the peoples
who have not lost the hope of surviving.

Fidel Castro Ruz

December 17, 2009

6:46 p.m.

CHAVEZ's FULL SPEECH AT COPENHAGEN SUMMIT

Socialism is the course for the
salvation of the planet
















Speech given by Hugo Chávez Frías, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the United Nations Climate Change Summit, Copenhagen, Denmark, December 16, 2009

Translated by Granma International


Mr. President; Gentlemen; Ladies; Your Excellencies;
friends:

I promise you that I am not going to speak longer than the
person who has spoken the most here this afternoon.

Please allow me an initial comment, which I should liked to
have made as part of the previous point exercised by the
delegations of Brazil, China, India and Bolivia – we were
there asking to speak, but that was not possible.

The Bolivian representative said – greetings of course to
compañero President Evo Morales – who is here (Applause),
president of the Republic of Bolivia – among other things –
the following – note this – "The text presented is not
democratic, it is not inclusive."

I was just arriving and we were sitting down when we heard
the president of the previous session, the minister, saying
that a document was coming here, but nobody knows anything
about it. I have asked for the document; we still don’t
have it; I don’t think anybody knows about that top secret
document. Now, the Bolivian comrade definitely said it: "It
is not democratic, it is not inclusive."

Now, ladies, gentlemen, is that not precisely the reality
of this world? Are we actually in a democratic world? Can
we hope for something democratic, inclusive from the
current world system? What we are experiencing on this
planet is an imperial dictatorship and from here we
continue condemning it: Down with the imperial dictatorship
and long live the peoples, democracy and equality on this
planet! (Applause)

What we are seeing here is a reflection of that: exclusion.
There is a group of countries which believe themselves
superior to us from the South, to us from the Third World,
to us the underdeveloped or, as our great friend Eduardo
Galeano says, we, the countries run over by a train that
ran over us in history.

And so, we shouldn’t be surprised by that, we are not
surprised: there is no democracy in the world and we are
here, once again, in the face of powerful evidence of a
world imperial dictatorship.

Two young people got up on the platform here; fortunately,
the agents of order have been decent, a bit of shoving and
pushing, and they cooperated, right?

There are many people outside, you know? Of course, they
can’t fit in this hall. I have read in the press that some
of them have been arrested, some intense protests here on
the streets of Copenhagen, and I want to salute all those
people who are out there, most of them young people
(Applause). Of course, they are concerned young people,
rightly, I believe and much more than us, for the future of
the world. The majority of us here have the sun behind us;
they have the sun before them and they are very concerned.

One could say, Mr. President, that a phantom is sweeping
Copenhagen, paraphrasing Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx. A
phantom is sweeping the streets of Copenhagen and I believe
that that phantom is moving silently through this hall,
moving here and there among us, it gets into the corridors,
comes out downstairs, it is climbing. That phantom is a
terrifying one, hardly anyone wants to name it. Capitalism
is the phantom! (Applause); hardly anyone wants to name it,
it is capitalism. The people are praying out there, they
can be heard out there.

I was reading some of the slogans painted in the streets
and I think I heard some of those slogans of these young
people when they were moving around out there. There are
two that I took note of; among the others, two powerful
slogans could be heard: One: "Don’t change the climate,
change the system" (Applause) and I take it as ours: Let’s
not change the climate, let’s change the system and, as a
consequence, we shall begin to save the planet. Capitalism,
the destructive model of development is doing away with
life, it is threatening to definitively do away with the
human species.

The other slogan calls for reflection, very much in keeping
with the banking crisis that spread throughout the world
and is still striking it, and the way in which the
countries of the rich North came to the aid of the bankers
and the big banks; the United States alone… well, the
figure got lost, it is astronomic, to save the banks. In
the streets they’re saying the following: "If the climate
was a capitalist bank, one of the largest ones, they would
have saved it already," and I believe that that is the
truth (Applause). If the climate was a capitalist bank, one
of the largest, the rich governments would already have
saved it.

I believe that Obama hasn’t arrived, he received the Nobel
Peace prize virtually the same day that he was sending an
additional 30,000 soldiers to kill innocent people in
Afghanistan, and now the president of the United States is
coming to present himself here with the Nobel Peace Prize.

The United States has a little machine for printing bills,
for making dollars and it has saved… well, they believe
that they’ve saved the banks and the capitalist system.

Well, this commentary on the margins, which I wanted to
make there, because we were raising our hands to accompany
Brazil, India, Bolivia and China, in their interesting
position firmly shared by Venezuela and the countries of
the Bolivarian Alliance; but, well, we were not given the
floor, so please don’t discount these minutes from me,
President, it was for that. (Applause)

Well, look, I had the pleasure of meeting here this French
writer, Hervé Kempf. I recommend this book, I recommend it,
it can be obtained in Spanish – Hervé is somewhere around
here – in French as well, definitely in English, How the
Rich Are Destroying the Earth, by Hervé Kempf. That is why
Christ said: "…it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God." Christ our Lord said that (Applause).

The rich are destroying the Earth. Could it be that they
are thinking of going to another one when they have
destroyed this one, do they have plans to go to another
planet? To date one cannot see any on the horizon of the
galaxy.

This book has only just come into my hands – Ignacio
Ramonet, who is also here in this hall, gave it to me –
and, at the end of the prologue or preamble, this sentence
is very important. Kempf says the following: "We will not
be able to reduce material consumption at global level if
we do not force the powerful to descend the ladder a number
of rungs, if we do not combat inequality; what is needed is
for us to add to the ecological principle, so useful at the
moment of becoming aware, the principle imposed by the
situation: to consume less and to distribute better." I
think that is good advice from that French writer Hervé
Kempf.

Well, Mr. President, climate change is, without any doubt,
the most devastating environmental problem of the present
century: flooding, drought, severe storms, hurricanes,
melting ice caps, a rise in average sea levels, the
acidification of oceans and heat waves; all of that is
sharpening the impact of the global crises that are lashing
us.

Current human activity is in excess of the thresholds of
sustainability, thus endangering life on the planet; but in
that we are profoundly unequal, I wish to recall that. The
500 million richest people, five hundred million! this is
7%. Seven percent! Seven [in English] percent of the world
population. That 7% is responsible, those 500 million
richest people are responsible for 50% of contaminating
emissions, while the poorest 50% are responsible for just
7% of contaminating emissions. For that reason it strikes
me that it is a little strange to put the United States and
China on the same level here. The United States could
amount to possibly 300 million inhabitants; China has a
population that is almost five times larger than the United
States. The United States consumes more than 20 million
barrels of oil per day. Chine barely reaches 5 or 6 million
barrels per day. One can’t ask the same of the United
States and China. There are issues that have to be
discussed here. I wish that, as heads of state and
government, we could sit down and really, really discuss
these issues.

So, Mr. President, 60% of the planet’s ecosystems are
damaged, 20% of the earth’s crust is degraded. We have been
the impassive witnesses of deforestation, land conversion,
desertification, alterations to fresh water systems,
over-exploitation of marine resources, contamination and
the loss of biological diversity. Exacerbated utilization
of land is 30% in excess of its regeneration capacity. The
planet is losing its self-regulation capacity, the planet
is losing that; every day more waste is released than can
be processed. The survival of our species is hammering on
the consciousness of humanity.

Despite the urgency, two years of negotiations for
concluding a second period of commitments under the Kyoto
Protocol have passed by and we are attending this meeting
without any real and significant agreement.

And, doubtless, referring to the text that is coming out of
nothing – as some have described it, the Chinese
representative – Venezuela says and the ALBA countries, the
Bolivarian Alliance, say that we do not accept it, we have
said that already, no other text unless it comes out of the
working groups of the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention,
and are the legitimate texts that have been discussed with
such intensity during these two years and in the last few
days. I believe that you have not slept; moreover, that you
have not had lunch, you haven’t slept, eh? It does not seem
logical to me that a document should come out of nothing,
as you are saying.

The scientifically sustained objective of reducing
contaminating gas emissions and achieving a long-term
cooperation agreement, evidently, today, at this hour,
seems to have failed, for now. What is the reason for that?
We are not in any doubt, the reason is the irresponsible
attitude and the lack of political will on the part of the
most powerful nations of the planet. Nobody should feel
offended, I will have recourse to the great José Gervasio
Artigas when he said: "With the truth I neither offend nor
am afraid;" but, in truth, it is an irresponsible attitude,
of marches, of counter-marches, of exclusion, of an elitist
management of a problem that is of all of us and that only
all of us can solve.

The political conservatism and egotism of the major
consumers, of the richest countries, denotes an elevated
insensibility and lack of solidarity with the poorest, with
the hungry, with those most vulnerable to disease, to
natural disasters.

Mr. President, there is an indispensable need for a new and
sole agreement applicable to absolutely unequal parties,
given the magnitude of their economic, financial and
technological contributions and capacities and one that is
based on unrestricted respect for the principles contained
in the Convention.

The developed countries must establish binding commitments
which are clear and concrete in respect of a substantial
reduction of their emissions and assume their obligations
of financial and technological assistance to their poor
countries, in order to confront the destructive dangers of
climate change. In that context, the particular situations
of island states and the most underdeveloped countries must
be fully recognized.

Mr. President, climate change is not the only problem
affecting humanity today; other scourges and injustices
await us, the gap that separates the rich countries from
the poor is still expanding despite the existence of the
Millennium Goals, the Monterrey Summit on finance, all of
these summits – as the president of Senegal said,
denouncing a great truth, promises and promises and
promises that have been unfulfilled, while the world
continues along its destructive path.

The total income of the 500 richest individuals on the
planet is greater than the income of the 416 million
poorest people. The 2.8 billion people who live in poverty,
earning less than one dollar a day, and who represent 40%
of the global population, 40% of the global population!,
receive just 5% of the global income.

Today, some 9.2 million children die before they reach
their fifth birthday, and 99.9% of those deaths occur in
the poorest countries. Infant mortality stands at 47 per
1,000 live births; but the figure for the rich countries is
just 5 per 1,000 live births. The average life expectancy
around the world is 67 years of age, in the rich countries
it is 79, while in the poorest countries it is just 40
years of age.

In addition to this, there are 1.1 billion people who do
not have access to clean potable water; 2.6 billion without
health services; more than 800 million illiterate
individuals and 1.02 billion starving people. This is the
global scenario.

Now, the cause, what is the cause? We’re talking about the
cause, we cannot shirk our responsibilities, we cannot
evade the seriousness of this problem. The cause, without
doubt – I’m going back to the same issue – of this entire
disastrous panorama is the metabolic, destructive system of
capital and its embodied model: capitalism.

I have a quote here that I would like to read to you, from
the great liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, as we know,
a Brazilian, from Our America.

On this subject, Leonardo Boff says the following: "What is
the cause? Ah! The cause is the dream of seeking happiness
through the accumulation of material wealth and unending
progress, using science and technology to achieve this, and
with which all of the Earth’s resources can be exploited,"
and I will now mention Charles Darwin and his natural
selection, the survival of the fittest; but we know that
the fittest survive over the ashes of the weakest.

Jean Jacob Rousseau —— we must also remember him – said
about that: ""Between the weak and the strong, it is
freedom which oppresses." For this reason, the empire talks
of freedom, in order to invade, to murder, to annihilate,
to exploit, that is its freedom. And Rousseau goes on: "it
is the law which sets free."

There are certain countries which are playing with the fact
that there is no document here, precisely because they do
not want a law, they do not want an agreement, because the
nonexistence of this agreement allows them to wield their
exploiting freedom, their overpowering liberty.

Let’s make an effort, put pressure on ourselves, here and
out on the streets, so that a commitment comes out of this
conference. So that a statement is released demanding a
commitment from the richest countries on the Earth!
(Applause).

President, Leonardo Boff asks the question – do you know
Boff? I’m not sure whether Boff could come; I met him
recently in Paraguay; we have always read his work: "Can a
finite Earth withstand an infinite project?" The doctrine
of capitalism: infinite development, is a destructive
model, we have to accept that.

Then Boff asks us: "What can we expect from Copenhagen?"
Just this simple confession: we cannot continue as we are
at present, and one simple proposal: "Are we going to
change our path? Let us do it, but without cynicism,
without lies, without double agendas, with meaningless
documents, with the truth striding ahead."

Up to what point, we ask ourselves in Venezuela, Mr.
President, ladies and gentlemen, up to what point are we
going to allow so many injustices and inequalities? For how
long are we going to tolerate the current international
economic order and the market mechanisms in force? Until
what point are we going to allow fierce epidemics such as
HIV/AIDS to devastate entire populations? For how long are
we going to allow hungry people to starve and prevent them
from feeding their own children? For how long are we going
to allow millions of children to continue dying from
curable diseases? For how long are we going to allow armed
conflicts that massacre millions of innocent human beings,
with the aim of awarding the resources of other nations to
the more powerful ones?

Stop the aggression and the wars, we, the people of the
world are calling on the empires, on those who are
attempting to continue dominating the world and exploiting
us! No more imperial military bases or coups d’états. Let
us build a more just and equitable social and economic
order. Let us eradicate poverty. Let us bring an immediate
end to high levels of emissions, let us halt environmental
destruction and prevent a climate change catastrophe. Let
us join together in the noble objective of being more free
and driven by solidarity!

Mr. President, a Venezuelan who made his name almost two
centuries ago, the liberator of nations and the precursor
of consciousness, left a resounding maxim for posterity:
"If nature opposes, we will fight against her and make her
obey us." That was Simón Bolívar, the Liberator.

From Bolivarian Venezuela where, on a day like today, in
fact, exactly 10 years ago, we experienced the greatest
climatic tragedy in our history, the tragedy of Vargas,
that it how it is known; from that Venezuela whose
revolution is attempting to secure justice for all of its
people, the only road forward is that of
socialism…Socialism, the other phantom of which Karl Marx
spoke, is moving around here too; rather, it’s like a
counter-phantom. Socialism, that is the way forward, that
is the path for the salvation of the planet, I have not the
slightest doubt whatsoever about that. And capitalism is
the road to hell, toward the destruction of the world.

Socialism, from that Venezuela which is confronting the
threats of the U.S. empire, from the countries that make up
the ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance, we are calling for, I
respectfully ask for but, from my heart, I am calling on,
on behalf of many people on this planet, the governments
and the peoples of the world, in paraphrasing Simón
Bolívar, the Liberator: if the destructive nature of
capitalism opposes, then we will fight against it and we
will do what we must; we cannot wait with our arms folded
for the death of humanity.

History is calling us to unite and to fight. If capitalism
resists, we are forced to fight a battle against capitalism
and open the way for the salvation of the human species. It
is up to us, raising the standards of Christ, of Mohammed,
of equality, love, justice, humanism, of real and profound
humanism. If we do not do that, the most marvelous creation
of the universe, namely human beings, will disappear! They
are going to disappear!

This planet is billions of years old, and has existed for
billions of years without us, the human race: that is to
say, it does not need us to exist. Now, we cannot live
without the Earth, and we are destroying Pachamama (Mother
Earth) as Evo says, as our indigenous brothers and sisters
in South America say.

Finally Mr. President, now to conclude, we hear Fidel
Castro when he says: "There is an endangered species:
humans". We hear Rosa Luxemburg when she said: "Socialism
or barbarism." We hear Christ, the Redeemer, when he said:
"Blessed are the poor, for theirs shall be the kingdom of
heaven."

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, we are capable of
ensuring that this Earth will not be the grave of humanity;
we can make this earth a heaven, a heaven of life, peace
and sisterhood for the whole of humanity, for the human
species.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you and bon
appetit. (Applause).

US GOVT CONFIRMS IT KNEW HONDURAS COUP WAS COMING

Honduran anti-imperialist patriots gather in defiance of the military coup

Chavez Code

A New York Times article has just confirmed that the US Government has been "working for several days" with the coup planners in Honduras to halt the illegal overthrow of President Zelaya. While this may indicate nobility on behalf of the Obama Administration, had they merely told the coupsters that the US Government would CUT OFF all economic aid and blockade Honduras in the event of a coup, it's almost a 100% guarantee that the military and right wing parties and business groups involved in the coup would not have gone through with it.

So, while many make excuses for the Obama Administration's "calculated" statements, had they been more firm with the coup leaders, instead of "negotiating", the coup may never have happened. Also, the State Department says they believed "dialogue" was the best way to resolve the situation, but their lack of clarity and firm position has caused multiple human rights violations to occur in Honduras and a lot of tension to take place in the region.

And during the April 2002 coup against Chávez in Venezuela, the State Department also claimed it knew of the coup and tried to "stop" it. Later, in my investigations, it was discovered through documents from State and CIA declassified under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that CIA, State and other US agencies, funded, supported, advised and armed the coup leaders....

Here is the NY Times article posted a few hours ago.

===================

More info here

CRISIS IN LATIN AMERICA AFTER RIGHT-WING COUP IN HONDURAS

Chavez: North American Imperialism and the
Extreme Right are Behind Coup in Honduras

June 28th 2009, by ABN / Tamara Pearson
Venezuelanalysis.com

This morning military personal kidnapped Honduran president Manuel Zelaya. According to one witness, 200 soldiers arrived at the president's house at 6am this morning, 4 shots were fired and later they left in vehicles towards the air base. The soldiers also took over the government television station, Channel 8, and took it off air. Zelaya is currently speaking live on Telsur TV, from Costa Rica.

In Venezuela, protests are starting in main city plazas and outside the Honduran Embassy. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez spoke on Telsur earlier, with this statement, reported by the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) and translated by Venezuelanalysis.com.

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias, manifested his rejection, this Sunday, of the kidnapping of the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, by that nation's military, and said that North American imperialism and the extreme right are behind this act.

"It's a brutal coup d'etat, one of many that happened over 10 years in Latin America. Behind these soldiers are the Honduran bourgeois, the rich who converted Honduras into a Banana Republic, into a political and military base for North American imperialism," said the Venezuelan head of state.

In telephone contact with the television channel Telesur, President Chavez urged the North American president [Barack Obama] to declare his opinion on the subject and said he considers the abuse against Honduras as being against all the peoples of Latin America.

Chavez said that from different mechanisms of regional integration, the Latin American people have started to mobilize, and he indicated that this coup will be defeated in order to return dignity to [Honduras].

"We say to the coup plotters, we are standing up. Honduras is not alone," Chavez said.

He also urged the Honduran soldiers who "acted in a cowardly way" to retake the constitutional thread and return the legally and democratically elected President [Zelaya] to his duties.

"Soldier, empty out your riffle against the oligarchy and not against the people," he said, adding, "These solders are going to know what the people are when the people start to go out into the streets."

LATIN AMERICAN UNITY AT SUMMIT SHOWS FURTHER PROOF OF THE START OF A NEW MULTI-POLAR WORLD

Obama Extends Hands to Chavez, Ortega at Summit Handshakes all around from Obama to Venezuela's Chavez, Nicaragua's Ortega at Americas Latsummit

By MARK S. SMITH
Associated Press Writer
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad

President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to
America's hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday,
listening to complaints about past U.S. meddling and even
reaching out to Venezuela's leftist leader.

…

In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage
of a Continent," a book by Eduardo Galeano that chronicles
U.S. and European economic and political interference in
the region.

When a reporter asked Obama what he thought of the book,
the president replied: "I thought it was one of Chavez's
books. I was going to give him one of mine." White House
advisers said they didn't know if Obama would read it or
not.

Later, during a group photo, Obama reached behind several
leaders at the summit to shake Chavez' hand for the third
time. Obama summoned a translator and the two smiled and
spoke briefly.

Those two exchanges followed a brief grip-and-grin for
cameras on Friday night when Obama greeted Chavez in
Spanish.

"I think it was a good moment," Chavez said about their
initial encounter. "I think President Obama is an
intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president."

At a luncheon speech to fellow leaders, Chavez said the
spirit of respect is encouraging and he proposed that
Havana host the next summit.

"I'm not going to speak for Cuba. It's not up to me...
(but) all of us here are friends of Cuba, and we hope the
United States will be, too," Chavez said.

…

Bolivia President Evo Morales, a close ally of Chavez, said
Obama's pledge of a new era of mutual respect toward Latin
America rings hollow.

"Obama said three things: There are neither senior or
junior partners. He said relations should be of mutual
respect, and he spoke of change," Morales said. "In Bolivia
... one doesn't feel any change. The policy of conspiracy
continues."

Morales expelled U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg in
September and kicked out the Drug Enforcement
Administration the next month for allegedly conspiring with
the political opposition to incite violence. Chavez
expelled the U.S. ambassador in Venezuela in solidarity.
The Bush administration subsequently suspended trade
preferences to Bolivia that Bolivian business leaders say
could cost 20,000 jobs.

Obama also extended a hand to Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega,
whom President Ronald Reagan spent years trying to drive
from power. Ortega was ousted in 1990 elections that ended
Nicaragua's civil war, but was returned to power by voters
in 2006.

Ortega stepped up and introduced himself to Obama, U.S.
officials said. But a short time later, Ortega delivered a
blistering 50-minute speech that denounced capitalism and
U.S. imperialism as the root of much hemispheric mischief.
The address even recalled the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of
Cuba, though Ortega said the new U.S. president could not
be held to account for that.

"I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for
things that happened when I was three months old," Obama
said, to laughter and applause from the other leaders.

LATIN AMERICAN LEADERS STRIDE CONFIDENTLY AGAINST US HEGEMONY & IN SUPPORT OF CUBAN AND PUERTO RICAN ANTI-IMPERIALISM

Chavez, ALBA trade group slams Americas summit

18 April, 2009

CUMANA, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
and fellow leftist members of his regional trade group ALBA
slammed a summit Thursday of Latin American leaders for
excluding Cuba and not resolving the region's economic
woes.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) summit
was held to coincide with the two-day Summit of the
Americas in Trinidad and Tobago that welcomes US President
Barack Obama, amid signs of a thaw in 50 years of US-Cuban
relations.

The presidents of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and
new member Dominica said the Summit of the America's draft
final statement is "insufficient and unacceptable" because
it does not mention the region's near unanimous rejection
of the US economic blockade of Cuba.

Read out loud by Chavez, the ALBA text said the Americas
summit statement also fails "to address the issues of the
global economic crisis."

"We contend there's no consensus for adopting that draft
statement and we propose an exhaustive debate," Chavez
said. With the exception of Cuba, the ALBA members were to
attend the Americas summit in nearby Trinidad and Tobago
after meeting here.

In keeping with ALBA's leftist charter, Chavez said the
first order of discussion in the debate should be how
"capitalism is bringing about the end of humanity and the
planet."

Cuba is not included among the 34 countries meeting at the
Summit of the Americas, and is also excluded from the
Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS).

However, in another sign of warming regional relations
toward Cuba, OAS Secreary General Jose Miguel Insulza
announced at the Americas summit on Friday that he will ask
the OAS General Assembly meeting in June to revoke the OAS
resolution excluding Cuba.

US-Cuban relations have also improved since Obama took
office in January.

Obama last week lifted travel and money transfer
restrictions for Cuban-Americans with relatives in Cuba,
and only hours before the summit of the Americas opened US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said 50 years of US
policy on Cuba had "failed."

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro earlier this week
both expressed their willingness to open talks.

Despite these encouraging signs, Chavez at the ALBA summit,
referring to Obama, said "we must demand that he abide by
United Nations resolutions" and lift the 47-year economic
embargo on Cuba.

The Summit of the Americas is expected to issue a general
call for lifting the US embargo.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega chipped in, calling the
US embargo "a real genocide" and dismissed the Summit of
the Americas as useless.

"You can't call that summit 'of the Americas' because Cuba
and Puerto Rico are missing," Ortega said, lending support
also to the US territory's independence movement.

ALBA was founded in 2004 by Venezuela and Cuba as a
counterweight to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
that the United States and several Latin American nations
were proposing at the time.

CHAVEZ IN CHINA TALKS OF THE A NEW POST-US HEGEMONIC WORLD AND CHINA'S ROLE IN IT

Chavez says China part of 'new world order'

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN – 3 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his two-day visit to Beijing this week is part of the creation of a "new world order."

The frequent U.S. critic, who met with China's president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao on Wednesday, told reporters that power in the world was shifting from America to countries such as Iran, Japan and China.

"We are creating a new world, a balanced world. A new world order, a multipolar world," Chavez said after arriving Tuesday evening.

"The unipolar world has collapsed. The power of the U.S. empire has collapsed," he said. "Everyday, the new poles of world power are becoming stronger. Beijing, Tokyo, Tehran ... it's moving toward the East and toward the South."

Chavez continued his theme in his meeting with Hu, telling the president that "no one can be ignorant that the center of gravity of the world has moved to Beijing."

"During the financial crisis, China's actions have been highly positive for the world. Currently, China is the biggest motor driving the world amidst this crisis of international capitalism," Chavez said in preliminary remarks before reporters were ushered from the room.

Chavez has made Beijing a frequent stop in his global travels to promote his agenda of anti-American world unity, stopping in the Chinese capital six times since taking power in 1998 elections.

His visit follows a sweep through the Middle East last week, including a stop in Iran where he said he has little hope of better relations with Washington under President Barack Obama because the United States was still acting like an "empire" in his eyes.

While China's Communist leaders have been low key in their response to Chavez's political rhetoric, Beijing's state-run industries have been eager to use Venezuela as a jumping-off point for their entry into South America. Chinese companies in the mining and petroleum sector have been especially eager to secure South American mineral resources.

During his visit, Chavez said he planned to review with Chinese leaders a goal of boosting exports of Venezuelan oil to China from 380,000 barrels last year to 1 million barrels by 2013 — part of Venezuela's strategy of diversifying oil sales away from the United States, which buys about half the South American nation's heavy crude despite political tensions.

Included in that strategy are plans for China and Venezuela to build four oil tankers and three refineries in China capable of processing Venezuela's heavy, sulfur-laden crude.

China and Venezuela have also invested in a $12 billion fund to finance joint development projects in areas including oil production, infrastructure and agriculture.

CHAVEZ BUSY DEVELOPING THIRD WORLD ANTI-IMPERIALIST SOLIDARITY

Venezuela to host summit of African-South American countries

CARACAS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela will host the Summit of African-South American countries in September, President Hugo Chavez announced on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.

Chavez made the announcement after meeting with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi and a series of other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the second summit of Arab-American countries, Bolivarian News Agency reported.

Chavez said he also met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, with whom he evaluated the situation of Lebanon and agreed to create a work commission to evaluate cooperation between the two countries.

He also reviewed bilateral agreements with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral ties.

Chavez also met with Bolivian President Evo Morales, discussed with him issues related to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas Summit to be held in Caracas before the Americas Summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

After his stay in Qatar, Chavez traveled on Wednesday to Iran for a two-day official visit, during which he will meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to review a list of 205 bilateral agreements mainly focused on food, energy, education, culture, science and technology.

NASRALLAH - HIZBULLAH LEADER: CHAVEZ EXPELLING iSRAELI AMBASSADOR 'ACT OF REVOLUTION'

Nasrallah: Arabs have much to learn from Chavez
Press TV, 08 Jan 2009

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, dubbed as the most popular leader in the Arab world, addressed a crowd of Lebanese supporters in a videoconference on January 07, 2008. The following is part of his speech.

The brutal truth, the truth of the brutality and hostility and racism of Israel should be an additional motive to continue our refusal to recognize the Zionist entity.

My dear brothers and sisters,

Cutting relations with Israel and halting any normalization of ties with Israel and describing the appropriate massacres it has committed in Gaza today is the easiest thing we can do as our duty.

This is the easiest thing that the leaders and the people of the region can do. Yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he would expel the Israeli ambassador in Venezuela. He, of course, did this in order to show his support for the Palestinians. Venezuela is very close to America, it is a neighbor of America. This is Chavez. He did this because of his humanity, his sense of revolution and, in this way, he dealt a severe blow to those who are now hosting the ambassadors of Israel in their capitals and do not have enough courage to even think about telling them to leave.

Today, Arab leaders need to take lessons from this Latin American leader. They have to learn how to show support for the people of Palestine.

My dear brothers and sisters,

This criminal entity must be punished for the murders it is committing and should not be rewarded. This entity must not be given benefits after committing so many crimes in Gaza and after killing so many people, women and children.

I assure you that the people of our Ummah will punish this entity and will punish the leaders of this entity because of the crimes they have committed. These people, these leaders have always taken Israeli acts lightly. The people of this region cannot forgive Israel and the responsibility of Arab governments today is to stand side by side with the people and the resistance in Palestine and to refrain from playing a role of mediation between the Palestinians and the occupiers.

Arab leaders must help the resistance to achieve its aims, to stop the military campaign and to lift the siege and must not put pressure on the resistance to accept the humiliating Israeli conditions.

Yesterday, an Egyptian official said something interesting. He asked 'Does the Security Council need more than 650 martyrs and more than 2,500 wounded to make its decision and act in a responsible manner?' These are nice words to hear and I would like to ask this Egyptian official whether the Egyptian regime needs more than 650 martyrs and more than 2,500 people wounded before it permanently opens the Rafah border crossing to help the people of Gaza stand with perseverance and achieve victory? The same question that you ask from the Security Council, I am asking you. I am here talking to the Egyptian official.

What is required from Egypt is only to open the border crossing, not to declare war. I was told by some of my colleagues yesterday that a group of Egyptian lawyers, who are loyal to the Egyptian regime, have actually filed a lawsuit against me personally. They filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice because of my speech on the first night of the commemoration of Ashura when I called on the Egyptian leadership to open the Rafah border crossing and called on the Egyptian people and the Egyptian army to pressure the Egyptian regime to take a positive step. They considered what I said as unjust and as a call for a revolution and the toppling of the Egyptian regime.

It was only a call to open the Rafah border crossing but, anyway, I am proud of the call I made. I am proud that this lawsuit was filed against me, especially because it came from those who did not take any steps after all these Israeli massacres were committed in Lebanon and in Jabaliya and in Palestine and even when Zionists brought massacres against Egyptian soldiers, those heroic Egyptian soldiers.

When a lawsuit is filed against me because a position I took and because I stood side by side with those oppressed and killed in Gaza, this is something that makes me proud. I am proud that these people filed a lawsuit against me because I took this position. I am proud of this now and I will be proud of this in the afterlife.

But I would like to tell you very frankly we are not trying to create hostilities. We are not enemies. We will not make hostile ties with those who collaborated against us, the Arabs who collaborated against us during the July 2006 war and with those who accused us and took part in the shedding of our blood. We will not be their enemies but we will be the enemies of those who collaborate against the people of Gaza.

I repeat, we will be enemies of those who collaborate against Gaza and against the people of Gaza and against the resistance of Gaza. We will be enemies of those who take part in shedding the blood of the people of Gaza and those who close the doors of life to the people of Gaza.

My dear brothers and sisters,

We also heard yesterday from John Bolton, a Zionist who was formerly in the American administration and is now frustrated. John Bolton pointed out the real aim of the Americans and the Zionists. The real aim, as he said, was to destroy the Palestinian cause. He spoke about separating the West Bank from Gaza. He spoke about ending the two-state proposal by keeping the state of Israel and giving part of the West Bank to Jordan and giving the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

I would like to tell you this is the real American-Zionist plan. All the talk we heard previously about two states is nothing. Such claims are mere lies and trickery because whenever they come down to actually determining the boundaries of a Palestinian state, they do not give the Palestinians any territories with which a country can be established. They then say we can not establish two states and so the solution is to abolish the Palestinian cause.

This requires, on the first level, once again a call for unity. Once again, we stress the importance of Palestinian unity in all its forms, all the Palestinian factions, Hamas, Fatah, the Islamic Jihad, all the Palestinian factions must stand unified because the cause has now become the target.

They are now making efforts to destroy this cause, but God willing it will not happen. They are not trying to destroy the government of Fatah, of Hamas and other factions. They are now trying to destroy the whole Palestinian cause and so this requires, once again, for us to stress on the necessity of supporting the resistance and perseverance in Gaza.

My dear brothers and sisters,

The experience of the July 2006 war and the experience of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip until now have provided clear indication that a proper defense strategy is necessary, whether it be in Palestine or Lebanon.

One of the strongest armies in the world, the Israeli army, which has the strongest air force in the region, is incapable of achieving its aims even though it stands against a very very small resistance force that lacks capabilities but has strong will and operates in a very very small geographic area.

This shows that the alternative of popular armed resistance based upon faith, determination and popular support is the best way to confront even the strongest armies in the world should such an army occupy the territories of a country. This increases our conviction and influences us on the path we are walking on.

Look my dear brothers and sisters, even the Security Council and the decisions it has made and even the international community have proved that they are incapable of protecting the Palestinian people in Gaza and incapable of condemning a massacre which was committed in a school that belongs to one of the committees of the United Nations…

How can the Security Council, which is incapable of condemning the massacres committed by the Zionists against women and children, protect people and how can it actually show itself to be just in relation to a specific cause.

My dear brothers and sisters,

What is happening today concerns us all. I know that in Lebanon the eyes of a region are on you. We are all in a sensitive stage in history. I tell you that we do not yet know the magnitude of the plan, the far-reaching effects of the Zionist-American plan and the magnitude of the collaboration. We must all be vigilant at all times as anything is possible. We must be cautious and watch the developments.

Yesterday, as well, Olmert was quoted that today there is war against Hamas and tomorrow there will be war against Hezbollah. I would like to tell Olmert, the person who failed in Lebanon, that you will not be able to destroy Hamas and you will not be able to destroy Hezbollah.

A few days ago and even a few weeks ago and even before the offensive into Gaza and after the military offensive into Gaza, during all this time, we have been hearing threats. One person says he wants to destroy us in days and the other person says he wants to destroy us in hours. I tell all these people that we cannot be weakened and we cannot be afraid and we cannot give up and we will not give up. We will not be afraid of your air force and threats. We will not be terrorized by your warplanes. We are here and we are ready for any development, event or any offensive that can be launched.

And I will not repeat what I said before. If you come to our territories, if you come to our villages, alleys and houses, I will respond with a simple sentence -- Zionists will discover that if they take the step they did in the July (2006) war, the next war will be a cakewalk compared to that war.

We are here and we will not give up our arms. Our resistance will still be the main theme of our sacrifices and the blood of our martyrs and I would have hoped for all those voices which were raised in Lebanon to actually give Israel a sigh of relief. Certain people had said Hezbollah would act against Israel. I would have preferred to hear those Lebanese people responding to the threats of Israel against Lebanon and against the resistance in Lebanon and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Why is it that when the Zionists take any steps and display aggression, we do not hear any responses, but when some people speak about the chances of war, many intervene hastily and try to relieve Israel and convince Israel that Hezbollah will not take any steps. These voices, these responses are being heard at a time when Lebanon is being threatened and the people in Palestine are being killed.

My dear brothers and sisters,

On the tenth day of Muharram, in the light of all these challenges, we need the spirit, vision and wisdom of Hussein (PBUH). We also need Hussein and Allah to accept us. We need Hussein to keep our feet firm on the ground. We need to have the spirit of Hussein, his love for martyrdom.

As we said during previous decades, we were with Hussein always and we were ready to sacrifice ourselves and our souls just like our brothers sacrifices themselves.

We were always ready to endure the hardships of the death of ours sons and loved ones for the sake of the cause which we believe in, for the sake of defending dignified and honorable lives. The passage of these years have proved our firmness and that our direction is the right direction, that our alternative is the right alternative.

We once again pay tribute to Imam Hussein's sacrifices and say that the generations of men and women who everyday repeat the known slogan cannot be defeated and cannot be terrorized by any threats as long as their voices always call. We say we will answer to your request Imam Hussein.

Israel is our enemy and the enemy of the Ummah and will always be its enemy even if some reconcile with Israel. America created Israel and protects Israel and is therefore the enemy of the Ummah and will always be the enemy even if some reconcile with America.

I thank you once again for your faithful participation. We once again would like to raise our voices to the enemy and let the enemy know that the Ummah, and we will always be an Ummah, when asked whether “we will be humiliated or stand against them with dignity?” The answer will always be that our position is to never be humiliated.

Peace be upon the Imam Abu Abdullah Al-Hussein, son of the Prophet, peace be upon all those who gave themselves to your cause. Once again, I pay tribute and I shall always pay tribute to you and shed light on your memory. Peace be upon Imam Hussein and Ali, the son of Hussein and all the children and friends of Hussein.

FIDEL: BOLIVARIANISM AGAINST THE EMPIRE

Democratic socialism

Noticias

I did not want to write a third consecutive reflection, but
I can not leave this until Monday.

There is one accurate response to Bush’s "democratic
capitalism:" Chavez’ democratic socialism. There couldn’t
be a more accurate way to express the great contradiction
that exists between North and South in our hemisphere,
between the ideas of Bolívar and those of Monroe.

Bolívar’s great merit was having stated it at a time when
modern means of communication did not exist — not even the
Panama Canal. There was no U.S. imperialism. There were
just the English-speaking Thirteen Colonies which, united,
gained their independence in 1776 with the support of
France and Spain.

The Liberator, as if he were capable of seeing through
centuries ahead of his own time, proclaimed in 1829: "The
United States seems destined by Providence to plague
America with misery in the name of liberty."

Hugo Chávez is a Venezuelan soldier. In his mind, Bolívar’s
ideas germinated naturally. Suffice it to observe the way
in which his thinking went through different political
stages, starting from his humble origin, school, military
academy, his readings of history, the reality of his
country and the humiliating presence of Yankee domination.

He was not a general; he didn’t have any armed institution
under his command. He didn’t perpetrate a coup d’état; nor
could he do so. He did not want to wait; nor could he. He
rebelled; he took full responsibility for events and turned
prison into a school. He conquered the sympathy of the
people and gained their support for his cause while being
out of government. He won the elections under a bourgeois
Constitution. He took an oath under that agonizing document
and swore allegiance to a new Constitution. He clashed with
both right and left preconceived ideas and started the
Bolivarian Revolution in the midst of the most difficult
subjective conditions in the whole Latin America.

For 10 years, as president of his country, he has not
ceased to sow ideas inside and outside his homeland. No
honest person should have any doubt that there is a true
Revolution in progress in Venezuela, and there is also an
exceptional struggle being waged against imperialism. It is
worth mentioning that Chávez does not rest, not even for a
single minute. He struggles inside Venezuela and at the
same time he systematically travels to the capitals of
Latin American countries as well as to important nations in
Europe, Asia and Africa.

He communicates, hour by hour, with the national and
international press. He is not afraid to address any issue;
he is listened to with respect by the main leaders in the
world. He makes correct and efficient use of the real power
his country has —the largest proven oil reserves in the
world, in addition to abundant gas— and he is designing an
unprecedented national and internationalist program.

With the signing of an association agreement between
Russia’s Gazprom and Venezuela’s PDVSA for the prospecting
and exploitation of hydrocarbons, he has created a
consortium in that field that is equal to none in the
world. His economic association with China and Russia,
certain countries in Europe and others in Latin America and
Africa with abundant resources, has released the liberating
forces that will pave the way towards a multipolar world.
He did not exclude the United States from the energy supply
or the commercial exchange programs. That is an objective
and balanced conception.

He thinks about a socialist revolution for his own
homeland, without excluding important productive factors.
At this historical juncture, after being hit by nature and
the criminal ravages of the decadent empire, our country is
truly privileged t be able to count on Chavez’s solidarity.
We have never heard a more internationalist and fraternal
phrase than the one he said to our people: "The country of
Venezuela is also your country!"

Imperialism is trying to get rid of him politically or
eliminate him physically no matter the cost, without
realizing that his death would be a disaster for Venezuela
as well as for the economies and the stability of all other
governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.

My conversations with him are characterized by one point of
view I defend: at this point in time, the most important
thing is to save Venezuela from the political onslaught of
the U.S. government. During his last visit we discussed the
magnitude of the assistance he is giving to us as well as
the assistance he wishes to give to us, and our suggestion
that he should concentrate the largest possible amount of
resources on the domestic battle that he is waging today
against the offensive launched by the media and the
conditioned reflexes that imperialism has been creating for
many years.

From now until November 23, the battle to be waged will be
of great transcendence, and we don’t want his support for
Cuba to be used as a pretext for damaging the Bolivarian
Revolution.

The 92 Venezuelan construction workers who are members of
the Socialist Voluntary Work Brigades sent to build houses
in Pinar del Río are a real symbol of our times.

We are living through very important moments. The popular
referendum to approve the new Constitution in Ecuador the
day after tomorrow will be of great significance. Chávez
will meet with President Lula in Brazil on Monday. Tonight
there is a televised debate between Obama and McCain. All
of this is important news.

That is why I did not want to leave writing these lines for
Monday. Tomorrow, Saturday, Chávez will be back in his
country and on Sunday he will address his people. He always
uses something from these reflections in his battle.

Por Fidel Castro Ruz / Granma Internacional / MinCI