Bulletins and News Discussion from July 1st to July 7th, 2024 - Morales vs Arce - COTW: Bolivia
Image is of Bolivian President Luis Arce (center, with glasses) face-to-face with General Zuñiga (in camouflage) during the coup attempt.
On the 26th of June, while Hexbear was in an 8-hour hibernation, General Juan José Zuñiga marched 200 troops and some armored vehicles on the government palace in an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Luis Arce. This is somewhat reminiscent of Jeanine Anez's coup in November 2019 where she overthrew the socialist president Evo Morales, but while that coup was due to a colour revolution likely orchestrated by the United States and had at least a tiny amount of political/public legitimacy and "followed the rules" in a certain sense (as Morales was trying to abolish presidential term limits, which is only evil if a socialist is doing it), this was a much more naked attempted seizure of power by a military general.
This coup was quickly terminated without even a momentary transfer of power. Democracy was saved.
Despite being in the same party, Morales and Arce have increasingly been in opposition. Morales champions anti-imperialism, rights for indigneous people, and poverty reduction. This last one especially has been threatened by Arce, though it's not entirely his fault, as the Bolivian economy is threatened by the same crisis affecting so many developing economies around the world right now - say it with me now - a lack of dollars and mounting debt. The US Federal Reserve is carrying out a bloody offensive against the world's poor, and this has combined nastily with a rather uninspiring "post"-coronavirus economic recovery in Bolivia, as well as diminishing natural gas production (and thus less exports with which to earn dollars).
While the coup was ongoing, Morales banded behind the government. Afterwards, however, Morales expressed his skepticism about whether the coup was, in fact, genuine, calling for an independent investigation into it, and saying that Arce “disrespected the truth, deceived us, lied, not only to the Bolivian people but to the whole world." This is because General Zuñiga made a series of very interesting statements to his family and colleagues, saying that Arce had "betrayed" him, and saying that Arce had told him “‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity.'" This does check out on the surface level, at least: Arce has suffered increasing unpopularity as the economy has suffered.
Interestingly, Morales' narrative has been supported by the anarchocapitalist leader of Argentina, Javier Milei, who is currently busy completely destroying his own country and stripping the copper out of the walls to give to American capitalists. Milei said that the coup attempt was "fraudulent". Meanwhile, those inside MAS opposed to Morales' accusations of a false coup have accused him of allying with the fascist right and becoming an instrument of imperialism.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Bolivia! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language. https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one. https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts. https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel. https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator. https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps. https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language. https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language. https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses. https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
The approval of the protocol comes at a crucial time, as it coincides with Luis Arce's participation in the Mercosur summit in Paraguay, scheduled for next Sunday
Andrónico Rodríguez, president of the Senate, told the press: "We have managed to pass the bill that is Bolivia's accession to Mercosur, the law is already sanctioned and its immediate promulgation is assured."
The bill was approved by the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies in June and received final approval from the Senate on Wednesday night. The exact date of promulgation by President Arce has not yet been confirmed.
The approval of the protocol comes at a crucial time, as it coincides with Luis Arce's participation in the Mercosur summit in Paraguay, scheduled for next Sunday. In addition, the Bolivian president is scheduled to meet with the Brazilian President on Monday in Santa Cruz.
Bolivia's entry as a full member of Mercosur represents a milestone for the country. Mercosur, created in 1991 by the founding countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, seeks to strengthen economic and political integration in South America.
I don’t care for his views but I really do hope Ed Davey keeps doing the publicity stunts next time around. Bring him to a skate park to advocate for debatably slightly better safety regulations. Do a livestream of him at a Blackpool casino to illustrate the strain on the average Anglo’s budget. Hold a three legged race competition to represent how Britain needs to cooperate with the EU.
Imagine if they pull a Antonio Salazar on Biden? Like they keep pretending he is still the president and is running. Meanwhile they put Kamala on his place, like what they did with Caetano.
During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong once prepared for a battle by notching all the trees along the route they expected to transport their artillery over, so when the time came they could fell the trees quickly and transport the artillery by surprise, without the Americans seeing a big path slowly forming in the jungle.
I know I read this somewhere, long ago. Does anyone know what battle this was?
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - One in three Democrats think U.S. President Joe Biden should end his reelection bid following last week's debate against Republican Donald Trump, but no prominent elected Democrat does any better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday.
The two-day poll found that both Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting that Biden has not lost ground since the debate. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Among the names of top Democrats put before respondents, only Michelle Obama, wife of former Democratic President Barack Obama, outperformed Biden and led Trump 50% to 39% in a hypothetical matchup. Michelle Obama, author of the best-selling 2018 memoir "Becoming," has said repeatedly she does not intend to run for president.
..
Biden has vowed to stay in the race. But should he exit, the Democrats whose names emerge as possible replacements perform only as well or worse than Biden against Trump in hypothetical matchups, according to the poll.
Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, trailed Trump by one percentage point, 42% to 43%, a difference that was well within the poll's 3.5 percentage point margin of error, making Harris' showing statistically just as strong as Biden's.
The largest operation so far by Hezbollah was just carried out, 200 missiles and 20 drones were fired in the last few hours, settler bases everywhere in the north are on fire
Ukraine map is moving fast again. We've had a major Russian breakthrough in the 2014 line near New York (lol) and Toretsk. The Russians have also opened a third Kharkov front in the north and a limited incursion into Sumy border villages has also been reported. The entire microdistrict in Chasov Yar has been captured and the Avdiivka front keeps moving further and further every day with Ukrainians slowly getting pushed back to the Vovcha River. It looks like the summer objectives for Russia this year will be cutting the Pokrovsk-Konstantinvka highway, surrounding Vuhledar (my most hated town in Ukraine tbh), capturing the rest of Krasnogorovka, reducing the Siversk salient, capturing the rest of the LPR villages, and finally working on that Toretsk-New York urban area by crossing the canal near Chasov Yar. Looking forward to learning new village names and learning about Soviet industrial achievements that seem to exist in every Soviet town.
Meeting the restrictions to the letter would disrupt the Pentagon’s ability to purchase the vast quantities of medical supplies, drugs, clothing and other types of logistical support the military relies on, officials contend. “There are certain parts of the world where you literally cannot get away from Huawei,” said Brennan Grignon, the founder of 5M Strategies and a former Defense Department official. “The original legislation had very good intentions behind it, but the execution and understanding of the implications of what it would mean, I personally think that wasn’t really thought through,” she said."
US can't ban Huawei use by the US government because the US needs Huawei to conduct imperialism abroad because western companies won't operate in warzones the US created.
The Pentagon is against the US blanket banning Huawei hardware for supposed "national security" reasons because of national security reasons.
Thinking about the idea of packing the court and like, one thing I havent heard of is if there is actually a reserve of pragmatic liberal judges who would be candidates for expanding the court.
My gut feeling is you would just get these morons who would decline the whole venture as being a naked power grab and against the spirit of the civic cult.
One month in and still unsure whether we're looking at a decade-week summer, the summer of Kamala or just maybe a classic white boy summer? What's it gonna be?
For anyone masochistic enough to be following the British election tonight I highly recommend keeping an eye on one of the most powerful posters on the issue at the moment on Twitter @eyuplovely (as endorsed by )
Also on the reasonable chance that he posts here; hello.
China is very interested in the Bioceanic Railway project. This would connect Brazil and Peru via Bolivia/Paraguay/Argentina. The Chinese also want to make agreements with Peru about the oil that has been found off the Peruvian coast.
China is building a megaport in Chancay. It's currently the biggest Chinese project in South America, apart from the whole electric car and lithium business they have in Brazil, because Elon Musk is an idiot who decided to ruin any chance he had with Brazil by attacking a random Supreme Court judge.
But then the 2022 coup against Pedro Castillo started to really cause problems for China in the country. Both the congress and the new president are really unpopular. Pedro Castillo, although not exactly popular, had real supporters and his removal made people, especially those outside Lima, very angry.
The US had a lot to gain from the coup, as they had an interest in the oil near the Peruvian coast and the new president could prevent Chinese influence in Peru. When the protests got too bad and the Peruvian police and army couldn't be bothered to help the regime, the US sent in special forces to protect its interests in Peru.
But it seems that US power projection is so weak that Peru has continued to do business with China, the projects have continued and the US seems to have shifted its focus to Argentina and Ecuador, where it has "asked" these countries to donate their military equipment to help Ukraine.
Normally, in the past, Brazil signed military contracts with the US, Germany, France, Italy and Israel. This is in addition to the fact that many Brazilian military officers are trained by the Western Military Academy, where they are generally influenced by the right-wing propaganda that these places promote.
But since Lula da Silva took office in 2023, Brazil has been moving closer and closer to China, mainly because of the failure of the US to fulfill its promises to send aid and investments that Biden said it would. And this year, when the Armed Forces were going to buy their equipment from Israel, the Workers' Party pressured the Armed Forces to do the deal with China instead of Israel.
In addition, it seems that the Brazilian Armed Forces have started sending their officers to study in China, and Chinese advisors are also visiting the Brazilian Army for an inspection. Over the past year, the Workers' Party has been moving closer and closer to the CPC. And since Argentina was Milei'ed, it seems that China is focusing on Brazil, Bolivia and Peru in South America.
Lula decides to recreate Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances abolished by Bolsonaro (Tribunal to Judge the crimes of the Military Dictatorship) on Thursday
The four members of the collegiate body are also to be appointed by the president
Article about Lula da Silva
President Lula (Workers' Party) will recreate the Special Commission on the Dead and Disappeared, which was abolished at the end of 2022, at the end of the Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) administration.
This was a campaign promise by the Brazilian leader, who had been demanded by relatives of victims of the military dictatorship (1964-85) since he took office for the third time.
Lula's decision will be published in the Federal Official Gazette this Thursday (4). There will be three acts: an order reversing a previous act by Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party), which abolished the commission, another dismissing the members appointed by the previous administration and a final one appointing the new names.
The president will also approve the choice of four people to join the new collegiate body. Federal prosecutor Eugênia Augusta Gonzaga will resume her post as chair of the commission, which she held until the first year of the Bolsonaro administration, when she was dismissed.
University professor Maria Cecília Oliveira Adão will be the representative appointed by civil society. Also confirmed were federal deputy Natália Bonavides (Workers' Party) and the representative of the Ministry of Defense, Rafaelo Abritta - who is a civilian and not a military officer.
Created under the Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Also known as FHC, Neoliberal President 1994 - 2002) administration as a way of recognizing victims of the regime, locating missing bodies and compensating their families, the commission was abolished at the end of 2022 by Bolsonaro, who is a supporter of the military regime.
Throughout his term, Bolsonaro also turned the collegiate body into a military trench, which even revoked recognitions of victims of the regime. At the end of his administration, he signed an order saying that the commission's work was finished - even though there was still a huge backlog of cases.
According to members of the government, President Lula himself decided when the commission should be recreated. Not only is this an issue close to the president's heart - after all, he himself was imprisoned during the military dictatorship - but there is also a trial scheduled for next week at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that will shed light on the issue.
The court is expected to hand down Brazil's third condemnation for the dictatorship, in this case for the death of student Eduardo Collen Leite, better known as "Bacuri". He was arrested and killed by the military in 1970 after 109 days of torture.
Article about the current Military Leader support for the Commission
Army commander Tomás Paiva defends the reinstallation of the Special Commission on the Dead and Disappeared
"It will be reactivated," said the military officer
Army commander Tomás Ribeiro Paiva defended the reinstallation of the Special Commission on the Dead and Disappeared of the military regime (1964-1985). The law was suspended under the Jair Bolsonaro administration (2019-2023). The commander's interview was given to the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo.
"It will be reactivated. People have lost people. They have the right to know where they are. As long as the person is missing, it's humanitarian for us to be able to know what happened. This has to be understood as a humanitarian issue. I'm just worried that, over time, expectations will be dashed."
Asked if the military will complain about the possible reinstatement of the commission, the commander said it was "people's right to know what happened to their relatives". "Even if they complain, it's the right thing to do."
The military officer commented on possible support from the army in the commission's work. "The army has always helped. There have been various expeditions, research. The Araguaia Working Group, for example. What annoys me is that sometimes people don't understand expectations. After so long, we can't find out what happened. But I reiterate: as long as there are people who have suffered losses, I think it's humanitarian. This has been settled for us".
Thousands of demonstrators in France rejected the victory of the far-right in the first round of the early legislative elections. The result allows it to think of a historic opportunity to form a government.
Now that the Russians seem to have occupied a large part of Niu York, do you think the America handlers of the drone strike teams are going to feel weird about flying planes into buildings there?
Maybe the CIA will issue a directive “make sure you’re referring to plans for 2024 not 2001.”
so like palestinian genocide is supported by 1 (one) demented individual, who plausibly doesn't know where he is half of the time, and all usa will say (at best) over it is "whoops, our bad".
The balloons full of garbage that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been sending to South Korea for weeks are having an impact on air traffic. More than 110 flights have been disrupted by the balloon launches that have been going on since the end of March, said South Korean MP Jeong Jun Ho on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Transport. More than 10,000 passengers were affected. The DPRK is using the balloons to respond to previous actions from South Korea in which propaganda material was also sent north in balloons.
Known by the ‘Ms. K’ alias, she was the one who directed and coordinated money laundry activities.
On Tuesday, Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Jose Perez requested 30 years of imprisonment for former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori.
Keiko founded the Popular Force party not only with the aim of profiting from politics but also to achieve impunity for her criminal associates, Perez said in the oral trial against her and 45 other citizens and entities.
More specifically, the anti-corruption lawyer pointed out that the Popular Force party has attempted to control the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the National Board of Justice.
Perez argued that, in her capacity as president of that party, Keiko Fujimori was aware of the income that Popular Force was collecting for its campaigning activities. The prosecutor began to describe how “the criminal organization captures assets of illicit origin with the aim of mixing the money with illicit assets.”
One of the prosecution’s witnesses, businessman Antonio Camayo, confirmed that Keiko Fujimori was known by the alias ‘Ms. K’ and that she was the one who directed and coordinated the criminal activities.
Citing the facts related to the money laundering crime between 2011 and 2016, Perez recalled that the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht admitted to the United States Department of Justice that it had paid bribes to finance political campaigns.
The anti-corruption prosecutor announced that the former president of the Bank of Credit of Peru, Dionisio Romero, will attend the trial because he will testify that he personally handed over US$3.6 million in cash to Fujimori after withdrawing that money from his bank’s vault in Lima.
During the hearing, Perez mentioned that the National Confederation of Private Business Institutions (CONFIEP) collected US$2 million from 14 business groups, under the guise of a campaign to promote private investment, to hand over to Fujimori’s presidential campaign in 2011.
Similarly, the RASMUSS Investments business group collected US$3.5 million in cash to hand over to people trusted by Fujimori, such as Jaime Yoshiyama and Augusto Bedoya.
The illegal contributions received by her party for the 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns amount to US$17 million, said Rafael Vela, the coordinator of the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption.
“I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out. I’ve been knocked down before and counted out my whole life. When you get knocked down you get back up.” - @POTUS
Agreed with the IMF, the elimination of subsidies is contributing to output stagnation, social movements denounce.
On Tuesday, Ecuadorians took to the streets to protest against President Daniel Noboa due to the increase in Extra and Ecopais gasoline prices effective from June 28.
In Quito, citizens set up barricades with burning tires on the Chillogallo bridge, aiming to block traffic entering the capital city from the south.
On Amazonas Avenue in the city’s north area, people protested in front of the complex where the Central Bank, the National Justice Court, the Civil Registry, and other key public institutions are located.
The National Union of Educators (UNE) and the Federation of University Students of Ecuador (FEUE) called for the demonstrations in opposition to the elimination of subsidies.
They claim that that policy is part of agreements between the Noboa administration and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are exacerbating the country’s economic problems through a combined effect of production stagnation and rising prices.
The text reads, “Ecuador dawns with protests in rejection of the gasoline increase ordered by the neoliberal administration of Noboa, who promised to bring calm with his mandate. The protesters have closed important avenues and roads in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities.“
“This means raising the cost of living and condemning more Ecuadorians to poverty,” said UNE President Andres Quishpe, who also indicated that the ongoing protests are just part of a large national mobilization that will begin next Thursday.
He also criticized the cuts to budgets for education, health, and social investment that the Noboa administration has made to meet its commitments with the IMF.
Another reason for the social protest is the increase in the value-added tax (VAT) from 12 to 15 percent, which the Ecuadorian government decreed in April, arguing that it was necessary to finance the “internal war” against organized crime groups linked to drug trafficking.
“The VAT increase has not helped to combat insecurity as Noboa promised. On the contrary, gang-related extortions and violent deaths have increased,” FEUE President Nery Padilla noted.
The Taliban, who rule Afghanistan, have negotiated with the USA about a prisoner exchange, as Taliban spokesman Sabihullah Mujahid told journalists in Kabul on Wednesday. Two US citizens are in custody in the country. They are to be exchanged for Afghans who are interned in the US prison camp at Guantanamo in Cuba. The talks took place on the sidelines of a recent summit with UN representatives and Afghanistan envoys from various countries in Qatar. Nothing is known about the results so far.
Update: Organized labour like the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario will be attending, and orgs like Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) will be attending
Other ALL OUT rallies TODAY in Montreal (Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle 12pm NOON) and at Western University (Concrete Beach 6:30pm in London, Ontario
If the west actually have a shit about the ukrainian people and state they would be forcing their creditors to eat shit and take a haircut. Of course they don't though, ability to extract profit from whatever rump state is left of the country is the consolation prize for not getting to balkanize Russia
anybody remember all the nonsense in US state propaganda outlets about how Putin or Xi are insulated from bad news due to the fear of punishment of reporting that bad news and so have an extremely biased view of reality? it was all, unsurprisingly, projection, given the recent news about how Biden only listens to his family and a tiny circle of advisors and ignores everybody else
After years of stonewalled investigations and evidence hiding/destruction, a public enquiry in the UK into SAS murders and executions of unarmed civilians in Afghanistan has been given a cache of records and evidence.
After years of trying to stop the investigation, the armed forces had a private contract delete the data during 'data migration' just days before being forced to hand it over. Now it seems there was a backup system after all.
Better late than never, you could argue, but that ignores the fact that in the last couple of years both Labour and the Tories alike have passed bills specifically designed to provide increased defense and even immunity from prosecution for soldiers committing war crimes abroad. So it may well be tactically timed.
The latest simplicius focuses on military matters and so is worth reading. It includes the ISW finally catching up to fall 2022 and an interesting thread by a ukrainian soldier about Russian assault tactics
wow, actually looking more likely than not that Biden drops out. Lots of reports in the media and his lackeys aren’t around to blame it on a bad day, etc.
Dude did so bad in the debate he actually destroyed his chances at the presidency. It’s literally the worst debate performance in American presidential history lmao.
The flooding actually seems to have slowed down for now. Departments further west of us are now going through it. We’ve been through a lot of natural disasters this year. Last month also had a lot of flash floods and mudslides. We’re in a region of the country that’s known as the “drought belt” and when we finally get water it’s in the form of floods and storms.
The storms for this month have been bad but thankfully haven’t lasted nearly as long. Or at least that’s the cope I’m telling myself. Hopefully round 2 isn’t right around the corner.
According to information from WirtschaftsWoche, the force only has 50,000 to 60,000 rifles. “Too few and too broken for almost 200,000 soldiers,” is what military officials say.
The G36 has been in use since 1996. After a dispute over the accuracy of the target in 2014, the federal government at the time stopped the procurement. At the same time, a successor model was a long time coming - partly because of a patent dispute between the applicants for the delivery of a new rifle. Even after the decision for the G95, also from Heckler & Koch, there were delays in the Ministry of Defense until recently, according to industry circles.
One of the problems that caused problems was an additional visor purchased from an external manufacturer whose plastic holder broke off too easily from the G95. In addition, testing is ongoing - even though the French army has been using the weapon for years. Now the government apparently wants to order 119,000 rifles in September and use them for the first time next May.
Turns out, the anti-Soviet propaganda about only every 2nd soldier having a rifle... is now true, but for a NATO country (extra irony from it being Germany specifically). In fact, it's even worse, since 60k rifles to 200k personnel is closer to a 1:3 ratio
Also, the best part is - given how much equipment they inherited from East Germany, they would have probably been just fine if they'd just kept it instead of selling it off and destroying it. Yeah, NATO countries are supposed to use 5.56, but the former Warsaw Pact countries other than Poland either took until the 2010s to start the process of adopting new rifles chambered in it, or haven't even gotten around to it like 20 years after joining (outside of select special forces units).
Hurricane Beryl drops to Category 4, but is still expected to hit Jamaica with catastrophic force this Wednesday. Regions of the country may become uninhabitable.
In Bolivia, Evo's former vice-president preaches left-wing unity and a new lithium strategy
In an interview with the Mexican newspaper 'La Jordada', Álvaro Garcia Linera analyzed Bolivia's political scenario
Article (Translated from Spanish)
In an interview with the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, Álvaro Garcia Linera, former vice-president of Bolivia during the presidency of Evo Morales (2006 - 2019), defended the unity of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS). The left-wing coalition is currently divided into currents that support current president Luis Arce and former president Morales as candidates for the country's next elections.
In order to achieve the reforms he considers necessary to pull Bolivia out of the economic crisis it is facing, Linera points out that unity is fundamental if the MAS is to win back the necessary votes in parliament.
"Now we are fractured and to implement this we need both the unification of the popular bloc and pressure for reforms. An attempt by Luis [Arse] to do this on his own is impossible because he is a minority in parliament, we need an agreement with the pro-Evista bloc beyond the candidacy, with a view to how to maintain the majority bloc of the people and implement reforms that will restore to the process the mystique and enthusiasm that has been lost today, there is a silent malaise and apathy."
Among the reforms he believes are necessary to get the country's economy back on track, Linera highlights the need for the state to make progress in regulating the exploitation of lithium in the country, which is the target of foreign interests, such as billionaire Elon Musk, who openly supported a coup in the country.
"Redesigning the lithium issue, we've lost almost five years, a barbarity. First with the coup of 2019 and then with Luis Arce's erratic policies, we have zero more than Evo did. My vision is not extractivist, but of a value chain, we can use the fact that we are the largest lithium reserve in the world as a shareholder contribution to an association of international companies with the state as a partner."
Linera is working to form a replacement generation to lead another moment of mobilization, like the one Bolivia experienced 20 years ago with the emergence of MAS, and he believes that "within the popular national bloc there is a loss of strategic horizon, of the real adversaries to be faced, and an entrenchment in personalized and very petty struggles".
Attempted coup: The barracks began on Wednesday morning when Zúñiga presented himself for the post of army commander despite having been dismissed by Arce on Tuesday night (25). The president's decision came after the high-ranking military officer publicly opposed the candidacy of former president Evo Morales to contest next year's elections. In statements this week, he even said that Morales "can no longer be president of this country" and stated that he would be willing to offer his life "for the defense and unity of the homeland".
At around 2pm, Zúñiga went to Plaza Murillo in La Paz, where he led a coup attempt in an army tank accompanied by other soldiers and 12 tanks.
The coup plotters tried to invade the Casa Grande del Pueblo, one of the seats of the Bolivian government, when there was a verbal confrontation with President Arce, who ordered the general to retreat. As the Bolivian population headed to Plaza Murillo in defense of democracy, the soldier got into his armored vehicle and left the scene.
The Bolivian president then took the oath of office for the new military high command. After Zúñiga's departure, the square became the scene of popular celebrations and a speech by Arce to his cabinet. The president thanked the organizations and said that those responsible should be brought to justice for the thwarted coup as soon as possible.
Ah, well, Biden's losing? damn. Should have picked Sanders when they had the chance to save their pathetic party. But no, they went for Hillary first (the eternal loser) and a walking cadaver second. This is all of their own doing. The man was even willing to drag himself through the dirt for the party, but even as he became very obedient, he was stabbed over and over again. Not that I pity Sanders too much, regardless.
You know, sometimes you gotta pay for the things you broke. This goes for the Dems and for the whole capitalist class, but that one is for later down the line.
Foro de São Paulo salutes the 45th Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution in recognition of the heroic deed of the Nicaraguan people.
Foro de São Paulo repudiates attempts to ban the MAS-IPSP and disqualify Evo Morales from elections.
"To ban brother Evo Morales would be an injustice not only against the historic leader of the Democratic and Cultural Revolution of Bolivia but would also be an affront against the Indigenous Peoples and the Latin American popular movement."
"We reject and condemn the attempted coup that a military faction attempted to perpetrate against Bolivian democracy and President Luis Arce, but which was defeated in a few hours by the responsiveness of the people, the legal and legitimate government and international solidarity."
You know that Hurricane Beryl, the earliest known category 4 hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic? Fun fact: it's now the earliest known category 5 hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic!
Another fun fact: Beryl reached category 5 faster than any other known storm (aside from itself) reached category 4.
Was checking 538 for the poll aggregates, but I saw this lmao
There is a 48-in-100 chance that Biden wins at least one state he didn't win in 2020
What fucking state Nate Bronze? What red state does Joe Biden have an almost 50% chance of winning? North Carolina, Texas, Florida? Where did you get that number from?
I know 538 is bad, but that’s just a complete joke. Now compare that to their 49% chance of Biden winning the electoral college. All I see is there’s actually a 0% chance of either of those happening.
This strikes me as something comrades should pay attention to. It is very likely to be a key weakness in the police robot dogs as well, and if the military ends up using them those too.
Two different untrue rumors regarding Turkey and Syria spark chaos.
Earlier this week a rumor was spread in Turkey that a Syrian refugee had assaulted a young Turkish girl, this led to pogroms against Syrian businesses and people, and dozens of arrests by the Turkish government.
Another rumor was that Ankara and Damascus had a meeting in Latakia province to discuss normalization of relations. Turns out this rumor was also untrue.
That didn't stop the HTS Turkish-backed "moderate rebels" from turning on their masters accusing them of "selling them out to Bashar." Dozens of Turkish soldiers and HTS terrorists were killed and injured in gunfire exchanges, military bases were torched, and internet is reportedly down across much of the northern occupied Syria. Turkish flags were burned, border crossings closed, and Turkish businesses in the territory vandalized.
It's noteworthy that in all of the so-called "liberated territories" of Northern Syria, a Turkish appointed governor runs the affairs and Turkish soldiers have some presence.
Everyone knows that Damascus condition of Turkish-Syria normalization talks is for Ankara to agree to leave all of Syria. So the proxy terrorists are feeling the heat of their impending abandonment.
Some Syrian commentators suspect that both rumors are connected and Erdogan is trying to spread greater ethnic strife in order to better his position in future negotiations with Syria.
The floods here are because of hurricane Beryl are unbearable. The basement in complete drenched and I’ve lost power several times today. And it’s only gong to keep going. I’ve heard a few locals have already died from the floods.
[T]he anarchocapitalist leader of Argentina, Javier Milei, who is currently busy completely destroying his own country and stripping the copper out of the walls to give to American capitalists.
More than 470 people have been taken into custody after crowds attacked Syrian shops and cars in central Turkey.
Riots erupted after Turkish authorities arrested a Syrian man for allegedly sexually abusing a seven-year-old Syrian girl in the central city of Kayseri.
Weird that Al Jazeera calls them protests in the title of the article then calls them riots here.
Turkish residents, infuriated by online reports of the crime, flipped over cars in Kayseri and set Syrian-run shops alight on Sunday night, demanding that Syrians be kicked out of the country.
The violence spread to the southern province of Hatay, where protesters set a Syrian grocery store ablaze.
The riots “damaged houses, workplaces, and vehicles belonging to Syrian nationals”, said Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who accused those responsible of acting “illegally in an attitude that does not suit our human values”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the violence, which he blamed opposition parties for stoking.
“It is unacceptable to burn houses, vandalise and set streets on fire,” he said on Monday of the violence. “Nothing can be achieved by fuelling xenophobia and hatred of refugees in society.”
More than 3.5 million Syrians live in Turkey, the highest number in the region, who were initially welcomed as refugees when the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011.
Umit Ozdag, the leader of Turkey’s anti-migration Victory Party, blamed the violence on the government’s allegedly “privileged” treatment of Syrian refugees.
IDK bro, that's a ton of refugees. I hope nothing bad is happening in the country they came from that could be causing this. Sounds like peace in that home country could go a long way to fixing this crisis you're having, is that going anywhere?
Al Jazeera’s Koseoglu said another reason for the riots was the recent, separate announcements by Erdogan and al-Assad to restore ties.
Tensions have been rising in Syrian opposition-held areas over moves towards rapprochement between the two countries, including plans to open a crossing between government-held areas and those held by Turkish-backed opposition forces in Aleppo.
Hopefully this event speeds up the peace process instead of derailing it. It's crazy how most of the world knows how immigration works and that you stop mass immigration waves by not having bloodbaths in the home countries (still took Turkey 10+ years to figure this out) but in the US how migrant waves appear is just they grew from the ground. The zombie hoarde from over there I guess.
Michael “everyone I don’t like on the left is a Stalinist” Hudson, folks:
I’ve known many Communists who have told me the story of what happened in Germany. 1931 the German Communist Party had a million members under arms. Stalin told them to join with the Nazi party in a common front. About one million members left the party in a year or two.
Stalin had just done the same tactic in China, directing the Communist Party to back Chiang kai Shek — who turned on them in the Shanghai massacre in 1928.
Stalin feared that any non-Russian Communist Party would take the world Communist leadership. The parallel with today is the US fear that any “real” left party would shift support away from the US-backed centrist neoliberal parties. So as the above article says, voters simply want to bring down “the establishment,” as British voters did with Brexit.
lol. For those who don’t know, Trotsky was Hudson’s godfather.
New CNN Poll: Trump 49% | Biden 43% which is actually unchanged
Politicians are increasingly making statements about Biden stepping aside, including James Clyburn ("I will support [Kamala] if Biden were to step aside"), Adam Frisch, Dem nom in CO, and Lloyd Doggett, dem in Austin, TX.
ISW aren’t talking about war at all now, just focusing in on “ethnic tensions”, walking a tightrope between
russia is full of migrants doing crime
Russia is “cracking down on migrant crime”
but also issuing passports to migrants and regularizing their status
which makes “ultranationalists” very unhappy
and reminds those ultranationalists how much crime migrants do
and reassures western audiences this “passportization” (not “regularizing legal status” but a cynical ploy to “weaponize” migrants via “passportization”) isn’t due to sound and reasonable migrant policy but because Russia is desperate for more manpower
They’re speaking to so many audiences with this one. Desperately “reminding” the “ultranationalists” about how much “migrant crime” there is while condemning Russia for “cracking down on migrant crime” while dismissing the significant reductions in “migrant crime” as akshually a cynical ploy to “weaponize” migrants and that “mass passportization” of migrants (did you just whistle?) is yet more proof they’re an evil nation losing a war.
A third candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., although a man of ideas and fresh thinking — or, because of that, is deemed unworthy of inclusion in the national debate on the specious plea that he is an ‘independent candidate’!
'man of ideas and fresh thinking' come on, man literally has brainworms and is just a liberal but antivax. do i think he should've been at the debate? yea because 2-4% polling isn't nothing considering how close the other two are.
The funniest thing about the SCOTUS ruling, to me, is that it was basically just the court acknowledging how the system already worked: breaking the law is literally part of the job of being US President. You can't do the job if you can't break the law.
According to Kajsa Ollongren, head of the Netherlands' Democrats 66-controlled ministry of defense, the right permits has now been issued, allowing the first of 24 vintage F-16 planes donated by the Dutch regime to be trafficked to Ukraine soon.
No details has been given on how many warplanes are going to be shipped or how soon "soon" is.
I highly recommend watching the Fault Lines documentary The Night Won’t End on YouTube (though cw you will see the suffering of the people of Gaza up close) I was listening to the journalist who runs Fault Lines (who I believe is Palestinian-American or Arab-American) on Electonic Intifada and you can tell she really put her heart and soul into this one.
Todays ruling conpletely removes libs excuse for why biden cant do good things because republicans.
The Supreme Court just ruled Biden could drone strike half the Supreme Court, Trump, and RFK for good measure if he wanted to as long as he asked a government official to do it.
We're still going to have to listen to infinite excuses about why Biden totally means he's going to save abortion and give us healthcare but the mean republicans are stopping him from doing it.
It was startlingly apparent in last night's #Iran debate that Pezeshkian has zero understanding of the economic and political stakes of multipolarism. He has no plans except rehashing Rouhani's failed policies. While Zelensky is reaching out to China for mediation, and Beijing negotiated an Iran-Saudi rapprochement, Pezeshkian seeks the blessings of the US and UK to escape "isolation" at a time when the genocide enablers have never been so isolated, and the Islamic Republic has broadened it's relations with dozens of states. Pezeshkian comes across as the arrogant Iranian "uncle" whose PhD demands everyone's rapt attention. He criticized "government" relentlessly, one he was part of, but offered no concrete solutions. It is a smart tactic: to mirror public sentiment and get them onside without noticing he didn't offer a single new path forward. This debate was a Jalili win hands down, can't wait for the next one.
truly cursed thought from one of cornerspati guests:
if macron resigns, he can run again, cause constitution only has two full terms limit, so by cutting down his second term he can do shenanigans and run again
🧵🚨 URGENT: Scientist whose previous work included directed energy beam research for the US intelligence community said Biden's symptoms during the CNN debate made him think of the Havana Syndrome.
This is according to former KGB spy Yuri Shvets who defected to the US in 1993.
That's right folks the russians mind beamed your glorious leader, the cognitive decline that you saw was not a cold but a hot, like a sizzling fajita, microwave hitting the powerful cranium of Joe, the CIA and the FBI are on the case but it seems like the only way to protect the president is through a helmet not unlike the Comic book villain Magneto. Reports indicate that the Military Industrial Complex is building the most expensive tinfoil hat money can buy.
In a stunning turn of events, the Supreme Court has once again hit that sweet 6-3 split, this time on the question of whether ol Donny Trump can wriggle his way out of his biggest jam yet.
This SCOTUS ruling sets the precedent that the office of the Presidency is immune to any legal repercussions for crimes committed as part of an ‘official act’. Any president can now do whatever they want in office and face 0 consequences for it.
Remember, you have to VOTE Dem forever now, lest this weaponised office of unchecked power that the Dems have done nothing to meaningfully stop the creation of fall into the hands of a Republican. Your ability to continue VOTEing Dem while conditions deteriorate depends on it!
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales condemned Argentine President Javier Milei's meddling in Bolivian internal affairs and stated that Milei wanted to destroy the popular achievements of Latin Americans.
Reading through Vijay Prashad’s Washington Bullets, and his brief but informative section on NGOs really highlights why the US and EU were so apoplectic about Georgia’s law that didn’t even ban NGOs, it just required that they disclose their funding. Because the NGO space really is a third spoke along with the IMF and World Bank in imposing US hegemony on the ground in the Global South. They have to contain anything that would highlight US imperial involvement in NGOs at any cost.
Based protestors cancel largest pride parade in Canada
Thousands sing, dance and celebrate at Pride Parade until protesters strand marchers and floats mid-route (ARCHIVE: Toronto Star)
A group of 30 protestors affiliated(?) with No Pride in Policing successfully stops Pride Toronto mid-route, Canada's largest pride parade (at least 1 million+) in the name of Palestine, Sudan and the Congo.
No Pride In Policing had a massive independent pride march with thousands of people lead by Black, Indigenous, and Palestinian queers screaming fuck the police to the pigs' faces, protest organized with and in solidarity with the People's Circle of Palestine, the country's largest university encampment still standing. No mercy for the pigs/libs, marchers filled with palpable rage, very cool and based.
Yesterday, minutes after the results of the primaries in Uruguay were announced, Yamandu Orsi and Carolina Cosse, until then opponents, already announced that they ran as candidates on a unitary ticket.
The Danish regime has sentenced a Snapchat influencer to six months of prison for "applauding terrorism" in relation to the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th last year. The influencer who was appealing a sentence back in February was convicted for posting a 40 second video about the people at a music festival who got caught in the crossfire between zionist attack helicopters and resistance fighters in which he said:
"Seriosly, let's be realistic. What goes on down there [in the illegal zionist entity] is not fair. Because there are still people down there. People live down there. ... Who have not been thrashed yet. But 250 of them is not that bad.
The sentence is an escalation from the regime compared to the earlier sentence from the lower court that only gave him a four months' suspended sentence.
Eight other persons are being threatened with criminal charges by the regime over public remarks in support of the Al-Aqsa Flood. No legal actions has been taken against public support for the zionist genocide against Palestine or the prolific war crimes of the zionist occupiers.
Some people have been asking, why did Macron call for an election when everything seems to go against him? Is this a self-own?
I am here to offer you two hypotheses, both related to the Paris Olympics and terrorism.
Hypothesis 1: Macron has been made to understand by the intelligence service of a “certain” foreign country that attacks will happen on the Paris Olympics (likely Ukrainian) unless he gives in to holding an election amidst immense unpopularity of his government. This represents a continued strategy to destabilize the French Republic and Europe as a whole, and the Paris Olympics is far too important for them that they simply cannot allow any disaster to happen (which also makes it a perfect opportunity to exploit).
Supporting arguments:
Ongoing US-France feud (e.g. AUKUS submarine deal that cost a heavy toll on the French defense industry)
Macron has signaled for a more independent European approach towards China/BRICS, and thus needs to be disciplined.
Macron has bizarrely insisted on French troops being deployed in Ukraine, suggesting a certain element of blackmail on the French government
RN secretly removed their anti-NATO stance in their electoral manifesto, which could imply that they have already been compromised by the US intelligence service (or perhaps this has always been the case all along) should they take power
Hypothesis 2: Macron received intelligence about an imminent terrorist attack on the Paris Olympics and decided to let it happen (or at least parts of it) as a “strategy of tension” to consolidate power for himself, given the losing popularity of his government. A state of national emergency would be declared and Macron would exploit the opportunity to strengthen the positions of his own cliques in the government.
Supporting arguments:
Macron is still President, and would be wrestling power away from the prime minister and the cabinet
His party’s popularity is slipping, and a good old Gladio style “strategy of tension” is a tried and tested method to fix that problem
Darmanin, Macron’s interior minister, is a cold blooded fascist from a French-Algerian collaborationist line with a history of letting the cops commit heinous acts against the protestors with zero percussions. This kind of fascist violence is right up his alley.
The new cabinet would be inheriting a state of emergency that would prevent substantial policy changes
Feel free to post or recommend any books, essays, studies, articles, and even stories related to Bolivia.
If you know a lot about the country and want to share your knowledge and opinions, here are some questions to get you started if you wish:
spoiler
What is the general ideology of the political elite? Do they tend to be protectionist nationalists, or are they more free trade globalists? Are they compradors put there by foreign powers? Are they socialists with wide support by the population?
What are the most important domestic political issues that make the country different from other places in the region or world? Are there any peculiar problems that have continued existing despite years or decades with different parties?
Is the country generally stable? Are there large daily protests or are things calm on average? Is the ruling party/coalition generally harmonious or are there frequent arguments or even threats?
Is there a particular country to which this country has a very impactful relationship over the years, for good or bad reasons? Which one, and why?
What are the political factions in the country? What are the major parties, and what segments of the country do they attract?
Are there any smaller parties that nonetheless have had significant influence? Are there notable separatist movements?
How socially progressive or conservative is the country generally? To what degree is there equality between men and women, as well as different races and ethnic groups? Are LGBTQIA+ rights protected?
Give a basic overview of the last 50 or 100 years. What's the historical trend of politics, the economy, social issues, etc - rise or decline? Were they always independent or were they once occupied, and how have things been since independence if applicable?
If you want, go even further back in history. Were there any kingdoms or empires that once governed the area?
Crypto is so stupid. There is this crypto token called USDT-TRC20, which is Tether on "Tron" Blockchain.
Last year it began being widely used for transactions in the gray/black market because of its low fees. Also used by Palestinian militant groups in fact.
Now the fees have doubled because of widespread usage. Costs over a Dollar to send anything.
I had a very strange trip today, because I didn't feel high at all but in retrospect I was not sober. I'm currently with three friends, two of whom smoked weed with me, one who didn't. We got it from a place that my friends said had really potent weed, but when we were smoking we didn't feel anything. I felt a bit of a buzz a bit later, but that went away.
Then we spent the day together and I kinda went a bit insane without realising it by falling romantically in love with my friend (the one who was not high). Like, I had found her attractive before, but she's a) in a long-term relationship, b) not attracted to me and c) someone who I really love as a friend, but never romantically before. But everything she did, I was like "oh my god she's amazing" in my head, I felt so happy to get her attention and make contact with her. But those are never feelings I had before, and now I'm sober again and I don't feel that way. Like what the fuck was that.
Also the weed hit me about six hours later really hard, and then I actually felt high, and then I very promptly passed out. Really weird experience altogether