June 17, 2011 - No. 101
Annexation No! Sovereignty Yes!
No to a North American Security
Perimeter!
Annexation No! Sovereignty Yes!
• No to a North American Security Perimeter!
• Security Perimeter Being Put in Place Behind
Canadians' Backs - Enver Villamizar
• Government Backgrounder -- Public
Consultation on Shared Vision for Canada-U.S. Perimeter Security and
Economic Competitiveness
Lock Out at Post Office
• Windsor March in Solidarity with Postal
Workers
• Mass Rallies Held in Ottawa, Toronto and
Winnipeg
Air Canada
• Tentative Agreement: Who Said What
United States
• "Stealth Wireless Networks" Created
Mexico
• Intensified U.S. Interference in Internal
Affairs
Cuba
• 10th Anniversary of Injustice Against the
Cuban Five
• Successful Meetings Held in Vancouver and
Nanaimo for Cuban Ambassador
Annexation No! Sovereignty Yes!
No to a North American Security Perimeter!
On June 3, the Canadian
government ended its public
consultations on the "shared vision for perimeter security and economic
competitiveness."(See TML Daily,
February 10, 2011 - No. 18).
The consultations started on March 13 and were to end on April
21. However, because of the Federal
Election they were extended to June 3.
In no way did the consultations provide Canadians with
an opportunity to have a say as to whether or not they want a Security
Perimeter with U.S. imperialism. The consultations were designed to
solicit proposals from the North American monopolies favoured by
annexation on how best to subjugate Canada to
serve them.
A government news release said: "This consultation will
inform the development of a joint Canada-United States action plan that
will set out a range of initiatives in four key areas of cooperation to
promote security and support trade and economic growth."
The Canadian Council of Chief
Executives (CCCE), an organization of the biggest monopolies in North
America,
responded with its proposals, including the
demand for the placement of U.S. security personnel at Canadian
factories
and anywhere where cargo is shipped to the United States.
This clearly underscores the urgency for the Workers'
Opposition to continue developing an independent nation-building
project.
The CCCE submission calls
for
"the development, within two
years, of an integrated cargo security strategy from the point of
shipment within Canada or the United States. Inspections that are
currently carried out at the border should be relocated to the
manufacturing or plant gate. Factory-gate pre-clearances should
begin with shippers that currently participate in trusted trader
programs (e.g., in the automotive and food sectors)."
It is highly unlikely that U.S. Homeland Security would
permit Canadian immigration and customs agents to inspect U.S. bound
cargo. In fact, this is precisely what they will not accept as their
aim is to put U.S. security forces in control of key Canadian
infrastructure and productive capacity. No doubt other
measures such as the imposition of "security clearances" to vet who can
and cannot work in certain "security areas" would follow.
One can imagine that if
these measures are accepted,
workers who attempt to use strike actions or picket lines to restrict
monopoly right, such as is taking place with the steelworkers in
Hamilton trying to block the theft of coke required for steel
production in Canada, could be labeled "threats to U.S. national
security" and to the "secure North American supply chain" for trying to
interrupt the theft of Canadian natural resources and productive
capacity.
This is but one of a number of proposals which call for
the use of U.S. military and police forces to operate in Canada with
NORAD-type arrangements under the guise of "cooperation" and "common
security." These proposals should not be taken lightly as the CCCE
represents the very same monopolies which
would willingly accept U.S. security agents in their plants. They
reveal the monopolies' vision for a completely subservient Canadian
economy where the workers in Canadian factories are under the vigilant
eye of Homeland Security.
It must not pass!
Security Perimeter Being Put in Place
Behind Canadians'
Backs
- Enver Villamizar -
On March 24, when no attention was being paid due
to the impending Federal Election, Bill C-42, An Act to amend the
Aeronautics Act received Royal Assent. The Act was passed by the
Conservatives, Liberals and Bloc on March 2 by a vote of 246 to
34. The amendment ensures that information
on passengers on flights originating from Canada which are set to fly
over the United States is handed over "to a competent authority of
that country." Under the previous Act, airlines were required to hand
over this information only if they were set to land in the United
States.
Despite Stephen Harper's assertion that the Security
Perimeter he announced on February 4 "is not about sovereignty,"
passenger information will be used by, amongst others, U.S.
agencies to screen who flies on Canadian flights. What else it will be
used for is not mentioned. However, the world has much
experience with how the United States security apparatus persecutes
people based on their political views and affiliations.
The Federal Election
The only "discussion" the Conservatives held on the
Security
Perimeter during the election took the form of an election announcement
on their website. The announcement repeated their intention to
implement a security perimeter. It was posted the night before the
Royal
Wedding so as to
ensure it received no media attention. Why no discussion?
Immediately after the Security Perimeter was declared on
February 4, commentators speculated that opposition parties would
be unlikely to oppose the deal for fear of losing support from voters
in border ridings, which are, in many cases industrial centres.
Windsor, Sarnia and Niagara are important border
towns and working class centres. Many of these ridings were held by
NDP or Liberal MPs at the time. This prediction was in fact a
declaration by the monopoly-owned media, and their owners who favour
annexation, that whosoever opposes the annexation of Canada to the U.S.
will not be favoured in an upcoming
election.
As an example of how this played out during the
election, in the ridings of Windsor West and Windsor-Tecumseh, the Windsor Star used
the elections to brow beat the population, constantly
claiming that a Conservative majority was required for stability and
that the main focus of this stability is to ensure that
we do not give mixed signals to the governments of Michigan and the
United States. Their reasons to vote Conservative were spelled out
clearly in an editorial on April 23: "the reasons to do so are legion,
starting with the border file. The Stephen Harper government has forged
a strong bond with Mich. Gov. Rick
Snyder and members of the Michigan legislature, and that relationship
must not be compromised."
"The state is poised to approve the [Detroit River
International Crossing (DRIC)] proposal to
build a second, publicly owned bridge linking the two countries, which
will create thousands of new jobs in this community while enhancing the
free flow of trade between Canada and the U.S."
The DRIC
proposal is a plan for the Ontario and Federal Governments to hand over
$550 million to the State of Michigan to finance its section of a new
publicly owned bridge to be built in Windsor. The Michigan government
had decided it would not use any state funds
to finance the bridge, thus the arrangement now is that Canadians will
also foot the bill for the American section. The money is not a loan,
rather it is financing which is supposed to be repaid through tolls
once the bridge is built, however there is no guarantee that this will
take place.
Showing why the bridge is important, it was revealed by
Wikileaks in a cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Canada to
Washington in November of 2005 that "the Ambassador Bridge and the
Detroit Tunnel in the Detroit-Windsor corridor jointly carry about 25
percent (approximately U.S.$100 billion per
year) of the total Canada-U.S. merchandise trade. They are arguably the
two most significant pieces of critical infrastructure along the entire
frontier." According to the U.S. government, "critical infrastructure"
means infrastructure critical for U.S. imperialism's national
interests and their "Homeland." The current
bridge is privately owned by U.S. billionaire Matty Maroun. This
arrangement took a strategic border point out of the direct control of
the U.S. State. Hence the demand for a new publicly owned border
crossing and parkway leading to it to be built.
In the election, the NDP incumbents in the two ridings
won handily. One might believe that the Windsor Star was not able to
fulfill its aims to get Conservatives elected in Windsor; however, this
hides what role the pressure to support the DRIC and its real aims
played. The main content of the discourse amongst
the parties vying for power was who would best ensure that Michigan
received Canadian money to build their section of the bridge. With the
election result, the Windsor Star
reflected the aims of the ruling
circles and their new demand to not waste any time in carrying out
annexation: "Canadians have spoken and
they have decided on a government led by Stephen Harper. The nation's
business, at a critical time, has been on hiatus long enough. No region
in Canada knows that better than ours, where it's time to refocus on
initiatives to encourage economic growth and get a new border crossing
built [...] That means Canada's
newly elected parliamentarians need to get back to work as soon as
possible."
Now with the Conservative majority in place, Harper is
using his election to declare a mandate to carry out the annexation of
Canada to U.S. imperialism. On the occasion of his election, Harper
arrogantly declared that Canadian values are based on putting Canada at
the disposal of U.S. imperialism on all fronts
describing the Canadian character as: "a compassionate neighbour, a
courageous warrior, a confident partner."
These developments reveal the importance of the Workers'
Opposition to soberly identify and work out actions which bring
forward the desire of all Canadians for a modern nation- building
project which serves the people of Canada and not U.S. imperialism. It
can be done!
For Your Information
Government Backgrounder -- Public Consultation on
Shared Vision for Canada-U.S. Perimeter Security and Economic
Competitiveness
On February 4, 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a declaration entitled Beyond the
Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic
Competitiveness, establishing a new, long-term partnership that will
accelerate the legitimate flow of people and goods
between the two countries.
Canada and the United States will develop a joint action
plan that will set out a range of initiatives in four key areas of
cooperation to promote security and support trade and economic growth.
The Beyond the Border Working Group, composed of representatives of
both governments, will develop and oversee
the implementation of the action plan. The group will look at ways to
preserve and extend the benefits of the close Canada-U.S. relationship
to create and sustain the millions of jobs that depend on this vital
economic partnership.
As cross-border travel and trade figures indicate,
Canada and the United States are deeply interconnected -- a testament
to the close relationship between the two countries:
* Every day, some 200,000 people cross the border for
business, pleasure or to visit family or friends.
* Canada-U.S. two-way merchandise trade was $501.4 billion in 2010, up
from $456.9 billion the previous year.
* More than $1 million in goods and services cross the Canada-U.S.
border every minute.
* Direct
investment by each country in the other stands at more than $250
billion.
* Canada is the largest and most secure and stable supplier of energy
to the U.S. market.
* Canada is the United States' largest export market and the single
largest export market for 34 U.S. states.
* Canadian exports to the United States support
one in seven jobs in Canada.
Key Areas of the Declaration
Beyond the Border: A
Shared Vision for Perimeter
Security and Economic Competitiveness is based on principles
that
recognize and respect the two countries' separate constitutional and
legal frameworks as these pertain to the protection of privacy, civil
liberties and
human rights. The declaration also recognizes the sovereign right of
each country to act independently in its own interests and in
accordance with its laws.
The declaration focuses on four key areas of
cooperation. Some excerpts follow.
1. Addressing threats early
"Collaborating to address threats before they reach our
shores, we expect to develop a common understanding of the threat
environment through improved intelligence and information sharing, as
well as joint threat assessments to support informed risk-management
decisions..."
2. Trade facilitation,
economic growth
and jobs
"We intend to pursue creative and effective solutions to
manage the flow of traffic between Canada and the United States. We
will focus investment in modern infrastructure and technology at our
busiest land ports of entry, which are essential to our economic
well-being..."
3. Integrated cross-border
law
enforcement
"We intend to build on existing bilateral
law-enforcement programs to develop the next generation of integrated
cross-border law-enforcement operations that leverage cross-designated
officers and resources to jointly identify, assess and interdict
persons and organizations involved in transnational crime..."
4.
Critical
infrastructure and cyber-security
"We intend to work together to prevent, respond to, and
recover from physical and cyber disruptions of critical infrastructure
and to implement a comprehensive cross-border approach to strengthen
the resilience of our critical and cyber-infrastructure with strong
cross-border engagement..."
Goal of Shared Vision
The goal of the shared vision is not to replace or
eliminate the border, but rather to improve border management,
streamline programs and develop a plan to ensure the ongoing
modernization of border infrastructure. Both countries have a shared
responsibility for their mutual safety, security and resilience in an
increasingly integrated and globalized world.
Regulatory Cooperation
Council
Canada and the United States have two of the most
integrated economies in the world. This commercial relationship, which
supports millions of jobs on both sides of the border, is essential to
the prosperity of both countries.
In addition to the Declaration, the two leaders also
announced the creation of a Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation
Council (RCC) that will make regulations in a range of sectors more
compatible and less burdensome in both countries, which is especially
important for small businesses.
The two leaders believe that the citizens of both
countries deserve smarter, more effective approaches to regulation that
enhance economic competitiveness, while maintaining high standards of
public heath and safety, and protecting the environment.
The establishment of the Regulatory Cooperation Council
in no way diminishes the sovereignty of Canada or the U.S., with each
government continuing to carry out its regulatory functions according
to its domestic legal and policy requirements.
As the work of the RCC gets under way, more information
will be made available to Canadians. For more information on the RCC,
please consult Backgrounder - Regulatory Cooperation Council Statement
on Regulatory Cooperation.
Public Consultation Process
The Government of Canada, through the Beyond the Border
Working Group, is committed to consulting with Canadians on the
declaration on a shared vision for perimeter security and economic
competitiveness. Priorities identified through public consultations
will help shape the action plan, which will contain
initiatives aimed at securing the two countries' common border while
developing job-producing and prosperity-enhancing trade between them.
Lock Out at Post Office
Windsor March in Solidarity with Postal Workers
Friday,
June
17 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
Starting at the University of Windsor in front of Chrysler Tower,
Sunset Ave. and Fanchette St.
For
information: www.cupw.ca
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With Canada Post's recent decision to lock-out CUPW
workers, it's time to show our support! The employer is trying to
create a two-tiered workplace and attacking pensions across the
country. This has become a trend in Canada and it must be opposed at
every juncture.
The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike!
Show solidarity with the union that fought and won
maternity leave!
We will march from the University to the downtown picket
line at Ouellette and Park and stand with locked out workers.
Windsor, June 13, 2011
Mass Rallies Held in Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg
Ottawa
On June 16, close to 300 workers marched to Canada Post
headquarters in Ottawa to denounce the demands for concessions, the
lock out and the back-to-work legislation of the Harper government.
They were joined by many workers from the Public Service Alliance of
Canada and also striking Air Canada workers.
Toronto
Close to 400 workers militantly demonstrated in front of
the main postal station in Scarborough on June 16. Postal workers came
from all the Scarborough stations and were joined by striking Air
Canada workers, members of the Canadian Energy and
Paperworkers Union (CEP), and representatives of the Toronto and
York Region Labour Council and the Durham Labour Council.
Winnipeg
Air Canada
Tentative Agreement: Who Said What
Harper Government
On June 16, the CAW and Air Canada announced that a
tentative agreement had been reached in the strike of the company's
3,800 customer service and sales agents. Labour Minister Lisa Raitt
called the tentative
settlement "excellent news."
"The best deal you can have is the one they did
themselves," Raitt said
in Ottawa. "We're very, very pleased with how it unfolded and I
know that putting the [back-to-work] legislation on the order
paper and
following through in process today was a tool that was needed in
order to focus the parties and narrow the issues and get them to
where they are," Raitt said, adding she worked with NDP labour
critic Yvon Godin to try to convince the two sides to go back to
the table. "I'm very pleased and my congratulations are to both CAW and
to Air Canada for putting the public interest first."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the intervention
on Thursday, saying it was necessary to protect the economy and those
who would be affected by the work stoppage.
"They are threatening... serious damage on a wide swath
of the Canadian public," Harper told the House of Commons.
"This is not acceptable to the Canadian government or to
the economy and we will act to make sure those who are not at the table
have their interests protected."
Both Raitt and Harper said the government wasn't taking
sides in the labour dispute.
NDP
NDP Leader Jack Layton accused the government of siding
with Air Canada against workers who are fighting against a clawback of
their pension plan when it tabled its back-to-work legislation on
Thursday.
"Now we see [the motive for] this government's
interference in the current labour dispute," Layton said.
"The real motive that's going on is that they are
backing executive bonuses in the millions instead of standing behind
pensioners and retirees trying to protect their future."
NDP Labour critic Yvon Godin said it's "dangerous" for
the government to get involved, and claimed that Air Canada and Canada
Post actually wanted its employees to strike so the corporations could
benefit when the government legislated employees back to work.
"If the government says we're sending a clear message out to Canadians
that we have no choice because our mandate is to focus on the economic
recovery, well brace yourselves everyone," Godin warned MPs. "The
government won't stop with Air Canada and Canada Post. It's simply the
start of the way the government will act in the future."
The NDP also asked about the government's plans to protect workers'
pensions. Pensions were one of the contentious issues in the Air Canada
contract talks.
The government wanted to limit debate around the back-to-work
legislation, and force a vote as quickly as possible so its majority
could prevail, said news reports. The Opposition New Democrats say they
will oppose the swift passage of back-to-work legislation using
whatever procedural tools are at their disposal.
"I think we're seeing record speed here in the case of the government.
And I think it indicates a bias on the side of the employer," Layton
argued, in explaining his party's view that negotiations should be
given more time to play out before legislation is considered.
Liberals
The Conservative government is showing a double-standard
in its handling of ongoing labour disputes at Canada Post and Air
Canada, Liberals said when the back-to-work legislation was tabled.
Rather than taking drastic action against
airline employees while doing nothing on major disruptions to mail
service, the government
must show consistency in its approach to resolving these disputes in
the best interest of all Canadians, said a Liberal press release.
"The Conservative government was quick to take a
sledgehammer to Air Canada workers, while doing nothing on a far-more
disruptive dispute at Canada Post," said Liberal Leader Bob Rae.
"There's a clear double standard here."
Liberal Human Resources and Skills Development Critic
Rodger Cuzner said Canadians need to know what their government plans
to do to ensure they can rely on their postal system to deliver things
like paycheques, benefits, medicine and other essentials normally
deliver by Canada Post.
"Businesses and seniors are just two of the groups most
affected by the dispute at Canada Post," said Cuzner. "The
government needs to set out a clear plan and work with both sides of
the disputes to ensure that essential services continue."
Liberal Seniors, Pensions and the Status of Women Critic
Judy Sgro echoed the particular effect of the disruption on seniors,
and pointed to secure pensions as the root cause of both breakdowns
between workers and employers.
"Canadians should not lose sight of the fact that both
these labour disputes are rooted in a deep concern over the future of
retirement security in this country," said Sgro. "The Conservatives
say they are standing up for seniors, yet they have no plan to protect
the integrity of pensions. We worry the Conservatives
will fail these workers, just like they failed the pensioners at
Nortel."
CAW President Ken Lewenza
"We're satisfied with our collective agreement," CAW
President Ken Lewenza
told reporters Thursday afternoon. "We're satisfied that our members
made progress for the next four years in wages and in other areas that
were of priority interest to them."
According to Lewenza, the new deal includes a wage
increase and addresses quality of life concerns raised by union
members. However, Lewenza said the union's demand that new hires be
included in a defined benefit pension plan was left out of the new
agreement. Air Canada wants future hires to be included
in a defined contribution plan.
"I want to begin by saying sincerely to future workers
at Air Canada, we regret that we were not able to put in our collective
agreement your desire to have a defined benefit plan," Lewenza said
Thursday. "We have agreed to send that issue to arbitration."
"Do I feel good passing on a risk to a new generation?
I'm not happy about that. At the end of the day, bargaining is tough
and you have to make tough decisions," Lewenza added.
He said there would be "very slight modifications"
to the existing pension plan, but he noted that none of those
modifications will go into effect until 2013.
Lewenza reiterated his criticism of the proposed
back-to-work legislation, saying there "should not have been any
intervention by government."
"Collective bargaining is between the company and the
union," he said. "There should have not been any intervention by
government because we believe that we could have got an agreement maybe
even quicker than today without the intervention of government, because
we were awfully close prior to the government
introducing legislation."
Lewenza told reporters that a "constructive dialogue"
was ongoing between the two sides, and said government intervention was
"distasteful" and "unconstitutional."
Lewenza accused the federal government of trying to use
its majority in Parliament "to weaken the bargaining position of the
union."
The CAW members will be back on the job on Friday, as a
commitment to the flying public, said Lewenza.
It is unusual to return to work before a ratification
vote; Lewenza said the CAW does not want to hurt customers any more.
Air Canada
The back-to-work legislation came despite assurances
from Air Canada that business was carrying on virtually as normal, with
1,700 managers filling in for the 3,800 call centre staff and check-in
agents at nine airports.
Air Canada said only 1 per cent of flights were
affected.
Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Duncan Dee said the
airline was "very pleased" to have reached a tentative agreement with
the CAW.
"The agreement will help ensure the long-term
sustainability of Air Canada while maintaining industry-leading
compensation and benefits," Dee said in
the statement. "It is business as usual at Air Canada. [...]"
United States
"Stealth Wireless Networks" Created
An article in the New York Times explains the
latest attempt by the U.S. to keep its hegemonic position over the
striving of the big powers for world domination, this time once again
using its dominant position in the field of communications. According
to the New York Times, by the
end of 2011, the U.S. State Department will spend an estimated $70
million on circumvention efforts and related technology. It is actively
engaged in the process of creating "shadow" internet and cellphone
connections "in autocratic countries" so that "dissidents can
communicate outside state-controlled networks,"
the New York Times reported.
The Times' report says that the
effort was boosted after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak shut down the
country's internet in an attempt to disorganize protesters in the last
days of his rule. Syrian authorities recently followed Mubarak's
example, temporarily cutting off much of the
country's web connection. The U.S.-sponsored projects include the
creation of secretive cellphone networks inside foreign countries, as
well as an "internet in a suitcase" program that will allow users to
connect to independent wireless networks.
The initiatives are generously supported by Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, the report adds.
"We see more and more people around the globe using the
internet, mobile phones and other technologies to make their voices
heard as they protest against injustice and seek to realize their
aspirations," Clinton is quoted as saying. "So we are focused on
helping them do that, on helping them talk to each other,
to their communities, to their governments and to the world."
The Times reports that some of the projects
in question involve U.S. technologies, while others utilize tools
created by hackers from the so-called liberation technology movement.
"In one of the most ambitious developments, the State Department and
Pentagon spent at least $50 million on the creation
of an alternative cellphone network in Afghanistan to prevent the
Taliban from shutting down mobile connections in the country. To
accomplish this, cellphone towers have reportedly been installed at
protected military bases across the country. The independent network
allows cellphone users to communicate when
local Afghan networks are shut down by the Taliban. The disruptions
typically occur between 6 pm to 6 am, so that the Taliban can conduct
their operations unreported to security forces."
The "internet in a suitcase" project is reportedly being
developed in a secretive building on Washington's L Street, the Times
article says. It "will help create undetected wireless hotspots hidden
in plain-looking suitcases. The program has been allocated a budget of
about $2 million and is run by a
funky-looking group of hackers and programmers. The hardware-packed
suitcase can be secreted across a border and will be able to transmit
a wireless signal to a large area, giving local access to the global
internet."
According to the New York Times, the U.S.
State Department is currently financing the setting up of stealth
wireless networks in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya. "The new
networks are expected to allow members of the opposition to communicate
outside of government control. Washington has
also been actively involved with a number of other programs and
initiatives aimed at easing dissident communication in countries
considered undemocratic by the U.S."
The Times also reports that, "In a recent
development, Washington sponsored the development of special software
that protects the anonymity of internet users in countries like China."
Mexico
Intensified U.S. Interference in Internal
Affairs
Demonstration in San Cristobal, Chiapas, July 2, 2010 denounces
paramilitaries, part of the Mexican government's collusion with U.S.
interference.
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The acts of U.S. imperialist interference in Mexico's
internal affairs are escalating rapidly. Using the pretext of defending
national security and the failure of President Calderon's "war" against
the drug cartels, the imperialists are intensifying their intrusion
into all the political, economic, military and judiciary
sectors, as well as into Mexico's police and intelligence services.
On May 24, the U.S. administration named Anthony Wayne
as new U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Until then, this individual had been
the assistant ambassador to Afghanistan, and is supposed to be a
specialist in economic development and the fight against organized
crime. He is especially known for his involvement
in the efforts of corruption, intimidation and disinformation and the
coup d'etat in Argentina, while he was ambassador there between 2006
and 2009. He succeeds Carlos Pascual, expert in dismantling "bankrupt
States" and referred to in the Mexican progressive and democratic
circles as the "viceroy." He was dismissed
from his post because of his public declarations about the incompetence
of the Mexican president in the fight against the drug cartels and
about the inevitable intervention by the U.S. military on Mexican
territory in order to re-establish control and guarantee the national
security of the U.S.
During the same week, the Mexican Minister of Public
Security, Genaro Garcia Luna, declared his willingness to allow the
imperialists access to all the Mexican Intelligence Service files,
again under the pretext of assisting in the fight against the drug
cartels.
On May 10, as part of the developments under the Merida
Plan and the failure of the war against the drug cartels, construction
began on a U.S. military base in the Ecological Reserve of San Salvador
Chachapa in Puebla State, a few minutes from Mexico, DF, the capital of
the country. Acting under the guise
of the State Academy for Police Formation and Development, this
military base will serve the American secret services like the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the CIA and the Naval
Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to act and interfere directly on
Mexican territory. This is what Rafael Moreno
Valle and Keith W. Mines, General Director of the Merida Initiative,
declared clearly at the project launch.
Last March, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) revealed on CBS that, by means of
Operation "Rápido y Furioso," thousands of arms were introduced
into Mexico by this agency and sold to various drug cartels.
In March, as well, President Calderon announced during
his visit to the United States that his government had taken measures
to allow the establishment of contracts between the private sector and
Pemex (the state-owned petroleum company protected by the
constitution). This will allow the United States to take
control of Mexican oil, thereby guaranteeing a supply of energy to
continue its wars of aggression.
On February 8, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense,
Joseph Westphal, declared that there exists in Mexico "a form of
insurrection directed by the drug cartels and that they could end up
taking over the government" and that that will lead to a direct U.S.
military intervention on Mexican territory. He was subsequently
forced to say that he was only expressing his own personal opinion. But
the following day, Janet Napolitano (U.S. Secretary of Homeland
Security) speculated in the American Congress that there was a possible
alliance between the Zetas cartel and Al Qaeda and threatened a very
vigorous response from the USA
should this be the case.
These last developments are in addition to the flights
by phantom U.S. aircraft over the U.S.-Mexico border and the addition
of thousands of soldiers and security service agents to the border.
This also follows the opening of an internal port on Mexican territory,
under the control of the secret services and American
agencies and responsible for receiving goods being transferred to the
U.S. It should also be mentioned that, since Hillary Clinton's visit to
Mexico, a binational secret service bureau (OBI -- Oficina Binacional
de Inteligencia) was opened on Reforma Avenue, right in the heart of
the Mexican capital. American agents
of the Pentagon, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the ICE and AFT work in
this office. And last but not least, we have to point out that, for the
first time in its history and in total violation of the Mexican
constitution, the Mexican Marine (the section of the military most
inclined toward an alliance with the American
army) participated alongside the U.S. and other NATO countries in
military exercises off the coast of Florida in 2009 and that this same
Mexican Marine carried out anti-insurrectional exercises in December
2010 in Mexico, the capital city, located at an altitude of more than
2,500 metres.
Cuba
10th Anniversary of Injustice Against the Cuban Five
"Pantheon of the Five"
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June 8, marked the 10th anniversary of the
political and judicial outrage committed against the Cuban Five, when a
Miami jury convicted them, after a politically-motivated persecution by
the United States government.
The Five were arrested in Miami on September 12, 1998
and
held in solitary confinement for 17 months, before the trial began in
November 2000.
Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón
Labañino, Fernando González, and René
González were locked up and isolated, in the midst of a media
hysteria, in
Miami, the U.S. city notorious for harbouring anti-Cuba terrorists, who
operate with impunity granted to them by the U.S. government. And to
stack the deck further, many journalists were on the government
payroll.
There is now evidence, thanks to the efforts of the U.S.
national Committee in Support of the Cuban Five, that Miami journalists
who covered the Five's trial with extreme bias were secretly receiving
U.S. government pay through the propaganda stations Radio and TV
Martí.
This is a vital part of the appeals
for the Cuban Five.
Successful Meetings Held in Vancouver and Nanaimo for
Cuban Ambassador
Vancouver, May 28, 2011
Over 200 people packed an East Vancouver Neighbourhood
House on May 28 to hear Cuban Ambassador to Canada, Her Excellency
Teresita
Vicente Sotolongo and Milagros Santana, new Consul General of Venezuela
to Vancouver. The evening began with Joaquin Ernesto, a musician
originally from El Salvador, opening
with several popular songs celebrating the struggles of the peoples of
Latin America.
Her Excellency
Teresita Vicente Sotolongo, Cuban Ambassador to Canada.
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Milagros Santana presented a paper analyzing the
anti-imperialist revolution, as she described it, in Venezuela. She
spoke about the importance of the alliance between Cuba and Venezuela,
and
the strengthening of inter-Latin American economic ties as a counter to
U.S. domination in the region. After her talk, she won
enthusiastic applause by taking up a guitar
and passionately singing a revolutionary song.
The Cuban Ambassador followed with a detailed,
informative presentation outlining the significant facts
about Cuba's situation. Entitled, "Cuba Today: The Gains and
Challenges," the Ambassador emphasized that the decisions of the
recently held
Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba
provide detailed guidelines as to how the Cuban people must increase
the national output of food, machinery and other products so as to
overwhelm the U.S. trade
embargo and sanctions against Cuba. She said the Cuban people were
united and determined to turn their resolutions into deeds and
strengthen socialism, the only way the
Cuban people can defend their sovereignty, dignity and independence.
She emphasized the importance of Canada's good relations with Cuba,
noting that it sends more tourists to Cuba than any other country.
The audience, which exceeded the seating capacity,
comprised a large number
of people from the Latin American community, several trade union
leaders and a large
contingent of youth.
The evening continued with a wide variety of questions
from the audience lasting until 10:00 pm.
The event was organized by Vancouver Communities in
Solidarity with Cuba, and was endorsed by several organizations
including the Vancouver Consulate of Venezuela, the Cuban Canada
Friendship Committee and the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist).
The following day about 120 people attended a meeting in
Nanaimo by supporters of Cuba to hear the Ambassador. While in the
area, the Ambassador had an opportunity to meet and exchange views with
leaders from the First Nations and trade unions.
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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