Making a killing: The military-industrial complex in 2008

Please check out the excellent article by CAP-CPC member Aziz Choudry that recently appeared in Bulatlat and towardfreedom.com

The Military and the Monetary, they get together whenever they think its necessary, they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries, they are turning the planet, into a cemetery (Gil Scott-Heron)

BY AZIZ CHOUDRY
GATT Watchdog
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 28, August 17-23, 2008

"In the late 1990s, well before Bush’s ‘war on terror’, New Zealand TV screened a particularly awful US action drama called ‘Soldier of Fortune Inc.’, about an elite team (composed of former US Marines, Delta Force, CIA, British SAS personnel) who performed ‘unofficial’ covert missions for the US Government. They would get a briefcase full of money from a shadowy military liaison and head to the Middle East, Latin America, Haiti, or the Balkans, or smoke out foreign agents and assorted enemies within the USA, missions for which Washington could claim plausible deniability because none were active duty soldiers. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it to keep ‘US democracy’ safe, for a price. Sounds familiar? Truth is indeed sometimes stranger than fiction, and the onscreen adventures of this squad of special operations and intelligence experts pale into insignificance when held up against reality." More...

Also see: http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1386/1/

Les gens s'organisent suite à la mort de Fredy Villanueva - réportage de Radio-Canada

La Zone Audio • Vidéo | Radio-Canada.ca

Greetings from ILPS Chairman to new Nepalese Prime Minister

16 August 2008

Comrade Prachanda
His Excellency Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Prime Minister
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal

Dear Comrade Prachanda,

We the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) convey to you our warmest greetings of revolutionary solidarity and congratulations for your election as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (FDRN) by overwhelming majority vote. We share the elation over your outstanding achievement with you as leader, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the People's Liberation Army, the mass organizations and the entire people of Nepal.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the people of Nepal have advanced from one major political victory to another. The cumulative victories have been due to the correct general line of new democratic revolution through people's war against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. Through a decade-long revolutionary armed struggle, your Party was able to build a powerful mass base and make advances in an all-rounded way.

The people of the world have celebrated the great historic victory of your Party and the people of Nepal in overthrowing the monarchy and establishing the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. They expect, as your own people demand, that the revolutionary process continues through fundamental reforms by constitutional changes, policy-making, executive action and mass mobilization.

We fully and firmly support the demands of the people of Nepal that under your leadership the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal uphold, defend and promote national independence, people's democracy, social justice, economic development through industrialization and land reform, a national, scientific and mass system of culture and education and an independent foreign policy for peace and international solidarity.

There are great possibilities of global significance arising from the revolutionary strength of your republic, Party and people. Nepal can serve as a base for promoting the global historic mission of the working class for defeating imperialism and building socialism and for generating the broadest possible mass movement of international solidarity against imperialism and reaction.

We extend to you our most militant best wishes. We are hopeful and confident that you as Prime Minister will lead the republic, your Party and the people of Nepal towards still greater revolutionary victories. The prospects are bright because your Party and people are united, reliant on their own revolutionary strength, ever vigilant and militant in defense of revolutionary gains and are determined to struggle and make the necessary sacrifices to reach the next new and higher level of the Nepali revolution.

Please accept the assurances of our highest comradely regards.

For the International League of Peoples' Struggle

Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International Coordinating Committee

IFI priest receives death threat in Philippines

A priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) received a death threat from suspected state agents.

BY BULATLAT
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Volume VIII, Number 28, August 20-26, 2008

Reverend Father Romeo Tagud of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) received an envelope containing an M16 bullet around 6:30 a.m.

Tagud is the secretary-general of Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response (PCPR) in Negros.

In a statement, the PCPR said, “We strongly condemn this desperate and evil act as this is clearly a handiwork of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Oplan Bantay Laya 2 that uses unjust, brutal, destructive and anti-people instruments to sow fascism and terror against legitimate, legal, progressive and democratic personalities and consistent anti-Arroyo oppositionists like Fr. Romeo Tagud.

Oplan Bantay Laya 2 is the counter-insurgency program of the Arroyo government.

Tagud recently joined the eight-member delegation of Filipino-Americans from the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, USA who visited Guihulngan, Negros Oriental last June 30 to July 2.

The PCPR said, “It is in this pastoral visit that Fr. Romeo Tagud bonded himself with the delegation’s expressed serious concern on the continuing deterioration in the observance of human rights in Negros, the existence of pervasive climate of fear and the lack of care and respect by government and the military towards the Filipino people who live in extreme poverty.”

The PCPR deemed that the harassment against the priest is a ‘wicked, immoral and unjust act aimed to silence him in pursuing his sincere advocacy for the defense of human rights.’

The PCPR added, “As a church worker, Fr. Romeo Tagud adheres to the Christian tenet of ‘Love the least of thy brethren’ and uphold the democratic rights of the poor and the oppressed to assert and exercise their basic right to life.”

Under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government, 27 church workers have already been killed, according to the PCPR. These include the former IFI Supreme Bishop Alberto Ramento and IFI priest Fr. William Tadena.

The PCPR called on all peace-loving church workers, priests, religious sisters, brothers, formandi, pastors, deacons, deaconesses, bishops, lay workers and to all the Filipino people to help defend and advocate human rights.

“…the Christian Church urged us to courageously defend and vindicate the rights of the poor and the oppressed, even when doing so will mean alienation or persecution from the rich and powerful,” said PCPR.

IFI Priest Receives Death Threat | Bulatlat

Fisher-folk in the Philippines Oppose Bilateral Trade Accord with Japan

Article by activist/journalist Stefan Christoff, a member of the International Observers Mission (IMA) to the Philippines in May 2007.

“In the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, particularly articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine in the agreement, outlines that huge fishing fleets from Japan will be allowed to explore our national waters in the Philippines, particularly our exclusive economic zones.”

BY STEFAN CHRISTOFF
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 27, August 10-16, 2008

"Opposition to a bilateral trade accord between Japan and the Philippines is growing increasingly public throughout the Pacific archipelago and this week Pamalakaya, a national fisher-folk alliance, announced a national campaign to oppose the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

As negotiations within international trade institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) continue to falter, multiple G8 nations, such as Japan, the U.S. and Canada, are switching their attention to negotiating bilateral or regional trade accords throughout the world. Bilateral trade accords generally articulate a similar economic vision common to the WTO, which views natural resources, public sector institutions and the environment in terms of rapid economic profit. More...

Murdered Filipino Mother and Activist Commemorated in Victoria, Canada

Dr. "Chandu" Claver is the former Chair of Bayan Muna in Kalinga. A physician-surgeon by profession, for many years he served his community in the Cordilleras as a people's Doctor. Having been a survivor of an attempted political assassination that killed his wife, Dr. Alice Claver, and left him with multiple gunshot wounds, he and his young children continued to be harassed and threatened by the Philippine military. Because of this, Dr. Chandu and his children are now in Canada seeking refuge in this country. He continues his activism in Victoria, British Columbia where he helps organize the Victoria Philippine Solidarity Group.

Bayan Canada National Organizing Committee

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MEDIA RELEASE

Victoria, BC, 04 August 2008 – A public commemoration service for a murdered human rights advocate was held last August 2 at the Selkirk Montessori School. Two years ago this week, Alice Claver, a human rights worker, was killed in an ambush by suspected government agents in the Philippines. Her husband, Dr. Constancio Claver, and their three daughters survived, and have fled to Canada. They have been waiting in Victoria for more than a year for the Immigration and Refugee Board to hear their case for a refugee claim.

The commemoration service was followed by a Forum on Human Rights and the Philippine Situation, sponsored by the Victoria Philippine Solidarity Group and the Stop the Killings in the Philippines Network. “As of today, we still have no justice for Alice. No effective police investigations have happened, and those who planned and perpetrated her death are still at large.” Dr. Claver explained.

The video presentation entitled “The Philippines: Waging War on the People” was publicly shown for the first time in Victoria. The video indicates how on that fateful day on July 31, 2006, two riflemen hosed down the Claver family car containing the couple and one of their daughters. Alice did not survive her seven gunshot wounds. Dr. Claver and his daughter, though much wounded, survived. Since then, Dr. Claver has linked up with human rights groups in an international campaign called the Stop the Killings Campaign.

Alice Claver was one of 903 Filipinos victims of extra-judicial killings since 2001. Most of the victims were members and leaders of legitimate progressive social organizations working for social changes in the Philippines. Local and international bodies and investigators, notably from the United Nations, have indicated the direct involvement of the Philippine military in these killings. In his talk, Dr. Claver said, “. . . the present Philippine rule is a de facto martial rule, a far cry from the so-called ‘vibrant democracy’ that even the present Canadian government seems to stubbornly think and adhere to.” The killings have been linked to the Philippine Government counter-insurgency program – a program strongly and directly supported by the United States War on Terror.

The Stop the Killings in the Philippines Campaign has spread into numerous countries around the world. This culminated in a process involving the filing of charges against Presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and George W. Bush at the Permanent Peoples Tribunal. This international opinions court found both Arroyo and Bush guilty of crimes against humanity. “International solidarity of peoples across the world has made this possible.” Claver said. But he added, “The number of killings may have noticeably decreased in the last 6 months due to the local and international pressure, but (the killings) definitely have not stopped. . . . Getting Arroyo and Bush out of the scene may not be the total answer, but may be a start for better things to come.”

He appeals to Canadians to continue to lobby their government to review Canada’s trade relations with, and military aid to the Philippines. He urged that Canada should find “means of making truly sure that Canadian tax payer’s money is not being used to make the Armed Forces of the Philippines a more efficient killing machine”. ###

For reference:
Victoria Philippine Solidarity Group
victoriapsg@gmail.com

The Founding Assembly of the International Migrants Alliance - an important landmark in the fight for immigrant rights.

Migrant justice groups from all over the world, including Canada, participated in the founding assembly of the International Migrants Alliance held in Hong Kong this summer, from June 14-17. The objective of this assembly was to build the solidarity and unity of the global working class against a global imperialist regime. It was a call to migrant rights groups from all over the world to come together in unity and forge alliances.

According to Irene Fernandez, keynote speaker at the IMA “we are fighting for a world where no-one is forced to migrate but at the same time everyone should have the right to move freely.” Her statement refers to the dual situation of oppression faced by migrants. They are fleeing political and economic marginalization in their countries of origin and then face restrictive immigration laws in the countries where they seek refuge.

The participating groups from Canada included representatives of a variety of groups working either directly or indirectly with migrants workers, immigrants and refugees. Their purpose in attending this assembly was to add the concerns of migrants in Canada to the hundreds of thousands across the world in order to develop a common basis of unity for collective action. Specifically, the delegates of Canada presented the situation of live-in caregivers and temporary migrant farm workers in Canada as well the effects of anti-terror legislation on migrants and immigrants.

The assembly began with an acknowledgement and examination of the global context of migration. Migration has become a business and governments are signing bilateral agreements that allow them to trade migrants as workers. The international financial institutions invent policies like the GATTS mode 4 to exploit the potential of cheap labour and at the same time set the conditions that will manage and police the flow of labour from the South to the North.

In receiving countries migrants face exploitation, and violation of their basic human rights. On top of that they are the first to be targeted under the anti-terror legislation.

For example, according to activists from the US, Latino migrant workers are facing horrible working conditions and exploitation. Added to that is the anti-terror sweep under ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) which is carrying out raids on undocumented migrants at an unprecedented pace and deporting them.

“They don’t really want to deport us and keep us out, they just want to control our movements and limit our rights so that we do not demand more. A nation of immigrants is holding another nation of immigrants hostage” says Teresa Gutierrez of the May 1^st Coalition from the United States.

In Canada, immigrants have been targeted under the repressive Security Certificates and held in detention indefinitely and without charge. Activists from Canada detailed the repressive immigration security measures used by the Canadian government to implement a two-tiered justice system, one for citizens and another for non-citizens.

Thus the war on terror has given another layer of control to governments to further police migration. From South Korea to Australia, from Germany to Canada, migrants talked about the effects of the so-called anti-terror sweep on their lives.

In the sending countries, like Philippines and Indonesia, social and economic living conditions are worsening and there is a withdrawal of governments from social spending on health and education. There is increasing privatization and foreign investment, which has led to less not more jobs. Rising unemployment leads people to leave their homes to search for a better life, for survival. Governments use this vulnerability to exploit them for profit and cheap labour. A rising trend is the emphasis on remittances from foreign workers as a way to spur development in the home country. According to Sonny Africa from IBON (a global research foundation based in the Philippines), this is a myth since most of this money is used in consumption and international debt repayment rather than in any national social investment. “The so-called myth of remittances is used to cover up severe economic failures domestically” says Sonny.

In South Korea, there has been a massive crackdown on undocumented workers. Migrant justice groups from there recounted how migrant workers are attempting to unionize and are being prevented to do so and threatened with deportation. This is because the undocumented do not have the right of ‘free association.’ Migrant rights groups are fighting for them to gain this right. There have been similar crackdowns on migrant workers in Taiwan and Japan.

The setting of the assembly, Hong Kong, was a significant backdrop to the issues being discussed, as far as migration is concerned. Hong Kong has a large migrant worker population. These migrants work as domestic helpers, construction workers, cooks, waiters etc. They are largely employed in the service industry. Domestic workers, specially, face extremely exploitative working conditions. They are exclusively female and an overwhelming majority are imported from the Philippines and Indonesia. The strong presence of these workers at the assembly brought home the real face of global migration to the participants. These workers also gave cause for hope and inspiration in the migrant struggle as they presented their successes in organizing and fighting for their rights. There are a number of migrant justice groups in Hong Kong, the largest being the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants who have over the years achieved major gains in obtaining rights for migrants. These groups were largely responsible for the organization of the assembly as well.

The assembly concluded with a recognition of the pressing need for linkages and alliances between migrants from all over the world. Since migration is global, so the alliance should be global. These links are already beginning to form. For example, workers who are deported from South Korea and Taiwan, because of involvement in organizing, are going back to their home countries in Nepal and Bangladesh, for example, and starting to organize there. Participants in the assembly acknowledged the need for there to be some kind of an awareness campaign for potential migrant workers before they leave their countries of origin to warn them about the conditions they can face in the receiving countries. Migrant workers also need to be linked with migrant justice groups in receiving countries either before they leave their countries or as soon as they arrive. This kind of support for migrants is only possible through global networking of migrant justice groups from around the world. The assembly was a step in this direction and hopefully will continue to serve as a strong platform from which to launch migrant struggles and campaigns around the world.

Sarwat Viqar, Montreal, July 12, 2008

*Sarwat Viqar is a teacher at John Abbott College in Montréal, Québec. She is a member of the centre d'appui aux Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns and served as a commissioner on the People's Commission on Immigration Security Measures.