Machetera

Photo from La Jornada with caption:

Yesterday Marine Commander James Terry Conway visited with soldiers wounded in combat with Colombian guerrillas at the naval hospital in Bogota.

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Did you know there’s a good David Brooks? You must have known there’s a bad one - the one who’s paid buckets of money to unzip his mouth and unload not very unconventional wisdom for the likes of the New York Times, NPR and whatever that PBS news show is called nowadays. The good David Brooks is a real reporter, for La Jornada, and here he reports on last week’s presentations to the State Department’s Council of the Americas, by President Bush and his so-called team. Late into his second term, Bush has no better grasp of reality than he did at the beginning. Time to get back to the bunker.

Thanks to reader John B. for sending this piece in for translation.

At the End of his Term, Bush Analyzes and Justifies his Policies Toward Latin America

David Brooks, Correspondent - La Jornada

Translation: Machetera

• Reforms in Cuba discounted and warnings issued against Venezuela’s dangerous relationships.
• “We’ve witnessed a social revolution in our hemisphere.” - Condoleezza Rice

WASHINGTON, May 7: Approaching its last months in power, the government of George W. Bush is promoting its last two initiatives in Latin America - the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and the Mérida Initiative. It argues that the influence of the United States in the region is being tested in its relations with Colombia, discounts the changes in Cuba, warns against Venezuela’s dangerous relationships in the region and reiterates its commitment to “social justice.”

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Pascual Serrano talks about who is really clamoring for change in Cuba, and surprise! It’s not the Cubans.

The Clamor

Pascual Serrano - Rebelión and pascualserrano.net

Translation: Machetera

A May 8th report on the awarding of a prize by the El País newspaper, is titled, in this same paper, “Clamor for Change in Cuba.” It reminded me of the time I worked for ABC and the recurrent use of the word “clamor” by its director at the time, Luis María Ansón. Whenever he wanted to denounce a case of corruption, however trivial, or ask the administration for a particular investment in infrastructure, Ansón chose titles such as “A Clamor from Citizens Outraged by the Case…” or “A Clamor Over Demands for a New Freeway Lane to La Coruña.” Obviously, upon walking out into the street, no clamor was visible; it only existed in the mind of the newspaper’s director.

The strategy is quite common in the media: when they have an ideological line, a political position, or a demand they don’t acknowledge in their editorials but rather are trying to present their crusade as though it were a reflection of a massive demand by the citizenry, hence, “a clamor.” It is a clear example of intellectual cowardice and audience deception, considering that they do not present it as their own idea or political proposal, but rather, try to make us believe that it’s the citizenry who is part of this position and demanding action, without any hard evidence to sustain it. It’s like when they title something, “The Spanish Ask…” or “Cubans Demand…” without bothering to add any kind of serious statistic whatsoever to back it up. I remember a headline in a Venezuelan paper that said that the Turks were worried about having an Islamic president, two weeks after the majority had voted him in. The only one who was worried was the director of the Venezuelan paper; had the Turks been so worried they would have chosen someone other than the person they elected.

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Machetera’s translation shop is back in business! Today, a double feature - incisive analysis from Marta Harnecker on the illegal referendum in Bolivia, and a moving excerpt from a speech by Fidel, all rolled into one. Enjoy!

Bolivia: Who Won the May 4th Referendum?

Marta Harnecker - Rebelión

Translation: Machetera

Following uncertain results, the two conflicting sides claim to have won the referendum on the autonomy statute held in the Department of Santa Cruz, [Bolivia] last Sunday, May 4th.

How should the winner be determined?

In order to judge or measure the results of any action, it’s essential to take into account the objective sought by both sides.

The Cruceña oligarchy sought to achieve a massive poll turnout: it was the only way to diminish the government’s arguments about the illegality of the process; if this objective was accomplished, then it might be argued that although it was not a legal process, it was a legitimate one because the people had massively expressed their feelings in regard to the autonomy statute and the government would have to take popular sentiment into account.

For its part, the government, the MAS (Movement Toward Socialism) and the social movements wanted to achieve the largest abstention possible, to diminish the voting results, where a large “Yes” vote was forecast.

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Machetera’s translation factory took a triple hit this weekend, with two computer failures and the flu. The Apple people assure her it’s not the Pentagon’s fault, just bad luck, but who really knows?

In any case, were she up to speed, she’d have provided you with a translation of this article which appeared yesterday at Bolpress - something which amazingly, you won’t have found anywhere in the English language press. Here’s the gist: apparently in yesterday’s fake autonomy referendum in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 20 ballot boxes stuffed with ballots pre-marked “Si” (that’s “yes’ in Spanish for the really language challenged) were discovered in the Plan 3000 section of the city. The story challenges even Machetera’s translation skills because it’s unclear whether the boxes were burned, or preserved as evidence; however, there’s a mention of people in the neighborhood standing watch over polling places to prevent the entrance of such things.

Where did we see this before? Oh right, Port au Prince. Nobody in U.S. “intelligence” ever thinks about updating the manual, apparently. Not that anyone’s complaining.

That’s all Machetera can manage for today. More later…

A couple of years ago on Cuban TV there was a cartoon that mocked the U.S. transition planned for Cuba. It showed a U.S. soldier guarding the door of a school while a line of children passed by, hoping to enter. As they passed, he pointed to them one by one, saying “You, and you, and you,” and when the black kid came, “not you.” Why does that occur to Machetera now? Oh, no particular reason.

A Bad Time for “Innocent Mistakes”

Roberto Bardini - Tinku

Translation: Machetera

Last June 28th, the 20 year old U.S. citizen Donna Thi, from Miami, was detained at the airport in La Paz, for trying to bring in five hundred 45-caliber bullets which she’d declared as “cheese” to customs. Waiting for her in the terminal was the wife of Colonel James Campbell, the head of the military section at the U.S. embassy in Bolivia.

The North American Ambassador, Philip Goldberg, intervened immediately to obtain the woman’s release and said that it was all “an innocent mistake.” The ammunition, he said, was meant for “sport and entertainment.”

Bolivia’s Director of Migration, Magaly Zegarra, did not hold the same opinion as the Ambassador. According to her, “the fact that a North American citizen, related to the embassy, is carrying ammunition on a North American aircraft coming from Miami, a city where terrorists from all over Latin America are protected by the government, especially their teacher, as Posada is called by the terrorists, and make a mockery of all [justice] mechanisms, is questionable.”

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5:30 p.m. May 2, 2008

Bolpress

Translation: Machetera

Evo Morales: We’ve Believed, We Believe and We’ll Continue Believing in the OAS

Bolivia’s Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca asked the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OEA) for unconditional support of the constitutional government of President Evo Morales and democratic institutions, and that it censure the May 4th referendum in Santa Cruz, as an act incompatible with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which could provoke a rupture in Bolivia’s constitutional order and territorial integrity.

In an extraordinary session of the Permanent Council which took place in Washington D.C., Choquehuanca delivered a message to the OAS delegates from President Evo Morales: We’ve believed, we believe and we will continue to believe in the OAS.”

The Bolivian Foreign Minister asked for support for the country’s constitutional government and democratic institutions and requested a declaration in defense of Bolivia’s territorial integrity.

Choquehuanca said that the Morales government hoped to find a peaceful exit to the political crisis and believed that the efforts of the OAS, in a third attempt, could open the doors to dialogue before the May 4th referendum pushed by the Prefecture and the Santa Cruz Civic Committee.

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From Santa Cruz, With Fury and Pain

Grover Cardozo - Alai-amlatina

Translation: Machetera

I’m at Santos Dumont Avenue at the height of Santa Cruz’s third ring. From the very heart of this land, from this region that is preparing for a hard episode in its history, I have a moral duty to denounce the following, to Bolivia and to the world:

Santa Cruz at the moment is a victim of a political agreement, a bloody pact by those who control the region with a strategy of fear. Powers that articulate a discourse with a Cruceñista appearance, but is nothing more than a concealment of the most perverse dark interests against the people and against the democratically elected government.

The social environment here in Santa Cruz is one of fear and uncertainty. Part of the population has taken on a festive atmosphere, joyful, with marches, carnival music, and dancing youth and children. Other sectors watch in silence, impotently biting their tongues against the activities of the affluent sectors, the light-skinned descendants of foreigners.

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Álvaro Uribe is Pushed Towards War

Jose Steinsleger - La Jornada

Translation: Machetera

For the remainder of his term, the tenant in the Black House will try to carry out, in any way possible, a pair of bold political moves: the overthrow of the Bolivian President Evo Morales, and the support of the über-narco-paramilitary President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, godfather of all Colombian mafia godfathers.

Apolinar Diaz-Callejas, an eminent international barrister, described the situation of the South American country as something “incredible” and “never before seen.” Not for no reason: 33 official legislators are behind bars, 70 more are under investigation, while their president has “84% popularity,” according to Mitofsky, the gringo polling firm that deserves its name.

We should remember Luis Guillermo Giraldo, the ex-ambassador from Colombia to Mexico, when he took great offense to the statements of this writer that 3/4 of the Congress in his country was composed of deputies and senators linked to drug trafficking and paramilitary cartels (El Correo Ilustrado, July 8, 2006).

As respectful of diplomatic investiture as I am, I thought that perhaps my sources had been manipulated by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and bad vibes. But then I learned that on January 2, 2005, while driving in his car down Insurgentes Avenue, from south to north, Mr. Luis made an illegal left turn and hit a Metrobus.

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Radical Autonomists Don’t Want an “Ignorant Indian” to Govern

Bolpress

Translation: Machetera

The political discourse is becoming more strident and dialogue further away as the May 4th referendum on autonomy in Santa Cruz [Bolivia] approaches. Leaders of the Union Juvenil Cruceñista (Union of Santa Cruzeña Youth) promise to fight for autonomy with their lives and publicly repudiate the idea that an “ignorant Indian” should govern the country. Social leaders in the highlands call for armed confrontation with the separatist bourgeoisie, and the initiation of revolution.

All indications are that neither the Organization of American States (OAS) nor the Catholic church will be able to achieve a political negotiation before the Cruceño referendum within 6 days. Pablo Mamani, Oscar Olivera and Eugenio Rojas, mayor of Achacachi and leader of the “Red Ponchos,” along with other representatives from the Coordinated Social Movements of Cochabamba called for Bolivians to take up arms and begin a social revolution starting on May 4th. These sectors decided not to heed President Evo Morales’ call, when he asked that the social organizations not mobilize against the referendum in Santa Cruz.

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The creepiest part of Minority Report, for Machetera at least, besides perhaps the part where the extracted eyeballs went rolling toward the sewer drain, was when the little mechanical insects were unleashed inside the apartment where a recently blinded Tom Cruise was hiding underwater in the bathtub, trying to hold his breath until they left. Which didn’t work, as you knew it wouldn’t. Yeah, THAT scene.

Creepy because it was true.

Pentagon Labs Implant Chips in Insects to Use as Spies

Rosa Miriam Elizalde - Rebelión

Translation: Machetera

While Venezuela is being criminalized as a country interested in international espionage and a campaign against its Simón Bolívar satellite is moving forward, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the same one that created the Internet - has officially announced its advances in projects to make hybrid insects for use in surveillance missions.

DARPA has managed to develop several types of cyborg - organisms half biological and half machine - from which the movement of the insects can be completely controlled, by inserting microscopic chips in the larvae. When the insect reaches the adult stage, it can be used to listen in on conversations, detect explosives or carry out surveillance missions by remote control.

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