Hillary Clinton & Harley Lappin: two people who can stop the torture of Gerardo Hernández now

This picture matches the description of the "hole" where Gerardo Hernández is being held

For Over A Week Gerardo Hernández Nordelo Has Been Held In The Hole At Victorville Prison Without Committing Any Infraction

U.S. Government continues its Nazi treatment of Gerardo Hernández

In the United States, unlike Cuba, we almost never free political prisoners and we certainly don’t give them medical care.  We send them to the hole, we punish them while they’re in the hole, and we deny them access to their attorneys.  And our State Department ignores any questions on the subject.  Like with Gerardo Hernández.  Gerardo says that this picture (of a Nazi torture cell) is a dead ringer for the hole where he is being held.  Except that I’ll bet this one is bigger.

Arturo Valenzuela is the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department.  Switchboard: 202-647-4000

UPDATE: When I called the State Department Switchboard they had a great deal of trouble recognizing Valenzuela’s name.  202-647-6755 will reach a secretary for Valenzuela who can take a message for him while he’s traveling.

Alarcón: The United States is Responsible for Gerardo Hernández’s Health – español

Colombia’s Uribe takes dictation one last time

Image courtesy www.borev.net

Colombia: Uribe’s Farewell Spectacle - español

Atilio A. Boron

Translation: Machetera and Manuel Talens

Álvaro Uribe, the empire’s unconditional pawn, took his leave from the Colombian presidency with a new provocation: the denunciation of FARC camps which he claimed to be established on Venezuelan territory.  Being neither dimwitted nor lazy, the U.S. State Department came out in unconditional support of the accusation put forth by Bogotá at the Organization of American States (OAS), encouraged by the supposed “resounding” proof presented by Uribe, denouncing the government of Hugo Chávez for allowing the FARC camps to be set up and for carrying out various military training programs for some 1,500 guerrillas on Venezuelan soil.  With amazing insolence, Philip Crowley, the State Department spokesperson declared that Venezuela’s response [in terminating diplomatic relations with Colombia] was “unfortunate” and “petulant” and threatened that “if Venezuela fails to cooperate in whatever follow-on steps are made, the United States and other countries will obviously take account of that.”  It must be remembered that since 2006, the United States has included Venezuela in the list of countries that are unwilling to cooperate in the struggle against terrorism.  Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela issued a declaration along the same lines, saying that Uribe’s denunciation was “very serious.”  Both statements cast a heavy shadow of doubt about the intellectual capabilities of both officials and, what’s worse, feed the suspicion that with their fondness for lies, the moral caliber of both is not all that different from that of Álvaro Uribe.

The utility of Cuban prisoners

Ex-Cuban prisoners color coordinated for maximum photogenic value.

For whom are the [Cuban] prisoners useful? - español

Enrique Ubieta Gómez

Translation: Machetera

So here’s the problem.  The ex-prisoners arrive in Madrid.  The press clings to them for a few days.  If they’re lucky, they’ll begin to live from their labors and not from subversive activity that was quite well paid.  Perhaps some will manage a post in cyberspace.  But, as the Cubans say, no es fácil [it's not easy], in the midst of an economic crisis.  I have no idea how much they’ll be paid for their commentary (the offensive or threatening diatribes they launch at revolutionary bloggers), but if we don’t publish them, they don’t get paid.  Little by little, they’ll be forgotten.  They’re no longer any use.  In other words, they’re no longer any use for their former promoters, for U.S. imperialism.

Why are Marines disembarking in Costa Rica?

Why are Marines Disembarking in Costa Rica? - español

Atilio Boron

Translation: Machetera

With votes secured from the official National Liberation Party (PLN), the Libertarian Movement, and Justo Orozco, the evangelical congressman from the Costa Rican Renovation party, on July 1^st, the Costa Rican Congress authorized the entry into that country of 46 warships from the U.S. Navy, 200 helicopters and combat aircraft and 7,000 Marines.

U.S. military makes itself at home in Costa Rica

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stands with U.S. Marines at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica March 5, 2010. Photo: U.S. State Department

Massive U.S. military presence in Costa Rica - español

Eva Golinger

Translation: David Brookbank

This past July 1st, the Costa Rican Congress authorized the arrival of 46 U.S. battleships and 7 thousand U.S. troops to the coasts of Costa Rica to carry out military operations, anti-narcotics missions and supposed humanitarian actions in the region.

According to the Costa Rican media, the majority of the warships are frigates measuring 135 meters in length and capable of transporting SH-60 or HH-60B Blackhawks, as well as 200 Marines and 15 officers on each ship.

Collateral abuse in the “Russian agent” case

Collateral Abuse in the “Russian Agent” Case

Machetera

Traducido a español por Manuel Cedeño Berrueta y Manuel Talens, de Tlaxcala

Elian González with his father, Juan Miguel González

It’s a well known fact that for a child, emotional trauma is every bit as damaging as the physical kind and often considerably more difficult to treat, given the fact that it leaves no physical marks.  In the news about the tenth anniversary of Elian’s return to his father in Cuba there was a remarkable quote from Elian himself.  Speaking about the Miami relatives who put him on display like a miniature human trophy and spared no effort to prevent his return to the father he’d been taken from without permission, he said, “Even though they didn’t support us in everything…I have no bitterness.”  For Elian to emerge without bitterness after such suffering is a testament to the family who raised him and the society surrounding them.

Thinking of perfectly avoidable childhood trauma, one has to wonder about the U.S. government’s motivations in its warp-speed roundup of accused Russian agents, the majority of whom were also parents.

U.S. government interfered to impose agreement on Vicky Peláez

Vicky Peláez

“The agreement was imposed on Vicky Peláez,” says her attorney - español

BBC Mundo

Translation: Machetera

Carlos Moreno, lawyer for the Peruvian journalist Vicky Peláez, said that the accord by which his client confessed to being a spy for Russia was “imposed” by Washington and Moscow and “has nothing to do with the evidence” available to the prosecution.

Shortly after the end of the court hearing against the ten people accused of making up a network of Russian spies, in which the group’s expulsion was decided, Moreno told BBC Mundo that his client had no other option but to accept.

Moreno guesses that the expulsion to Russian will be hardest for Peláez, since she’s the only one in the group who is not a Russian citizen and she must leave her journalistic career behind, something that according to the attorney created “an environment of political persecution” against his client.

Is the defense satisfied with the resolution of the case?

The resolution of this case has nothing to do with the evidence, but with an agreement imposed on the prosecutor, the defense attorneys, and even the Southern District Court by the United States.  It is an agreement between the U.S. government and the Russian Federation.

You say that the executive branch interfered with the judicial process?

That’s my interpretation, because when there’s a negotiation process between the prosecution and the defense attorneys, the process involves just those two parties; there’s no third or fourth participant.  In this case, there was a third participant: the U.S. government, not represented by the prosecution but rather, by the executive branch.  And there were also representatives from the Russian Federation.

Francisco Chávez Abarca: a very big fish

Terrorist’s Capture a Warning of Possible Conspiracy Against Venezuelan Government - español

Translation: Machetera for Tlaxcala

teleSUR (Caracas) – Venezuela’s lawyer in the Posada Carriles case, José Pertierra, warned that the terrorist recently arrested near the International Maiquetía airport (in the northern state of Vargas), Francisco Chávez Abarca, “is not the person who detonated or placed the bomb,” but the person who recruited killers to carry out the action.  He urged authorities to investigate “who was going to meet with this individual” during his time in Caracas.

Venezuela’s attorney in the extradition case of Luis Posada Carriles, José Pertierra, warned that the presence in this Latin American country of the terrorist Francisco Chávez Abarca, who was arrested this Thursday, could respond to a planned conspiracy against the government of President Hugo Chávez and even an attempt on his life.

“I’m sure that (Chávez Abarca) didn’t come to Venezuela to get some sun on Isla de Margarita.  It’s very probable that he had a hidden, terrorist plan,” Pertierra warned in an exclusive interview with teleSUR.

Luis Posada Carriles’ right hand man, Francisco Chávez Abarca, nabbed in Venezuela

"Potbelly" Francisco Chávez Abarca is on the Interpol Most Wanted list for his involvement in various explosive attacks in Cuba in the 1990's

Francisco Chávez Abarca, Posada Carriles’ Right Hand Man, Captured in Venezuela - español

Translation: Machetera for Tlaxcala

Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, reported today that the Salvadoran Francisco Chávez Abarca, accused of being Luis Posada Carriles’ right hand man, and the author of various explosive attacks in Cuba, was arrested in a nighttime intelligence operation on Thursday when he tried to enter Venezuela.

In an address from Miraflores Palace (the government headquarters), the Venezuelan leader explained that Abarca was arrested in the airport at Maiquetía (in the north) and was transferred to the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) for interrogation.

Nicknamed “Potbelly,” Chávez Abarca is on Interpol’s Most Wanted list due to his implication in various attacks with explosives in Cuba in the 1990’s.