As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial proceeds right before he must fight yet another election, the alt-right authoritarian has lost his most supportive foreign leader with Donald Trump no longer in the White House. Can this hateful man be pried out of office to face justice and how are other far-right regimes faring in the wake of a change in the US Presidency? Biden has already announced the reinstatement of aid and diplomatic relations with the Palistinian Authority and also stated that he will no longer support and supply the Saudi war that has devastated Yemen. Biden extended START with Russia and is set to reinstate the Nuclear deal with Iran. Will the new administration prove less willing to meddle in South American politics that helped instal far-right governments amenable to US Corporate plundering? It is too soon to tell, but the people of several South American nations are now fighting hard for the return of Socialism and benefits that are shared more equitably between all of their own citizens.
Now, may be the turn of Ecuador to restore a popular Socialist Government. In the Canary Article entitled, “The left eyes victory as Ecuador goes to the polls.” On Sunday 7 February, Ecuadorians went to the polls to elect a new president and National Assembly; Andrés Arauz looks well placed in the run-off. The Canary say that, “Ecuador has been gripped by an economic crisis amidst an ‘erratic and negligent’ response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. And socialist candidate Andrés Arauz looks poised to win, if the process is free and fair. Socialist candidate Arauz, a protégé of former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, leads most polls.” Before Sunday’s vote they said, “To win in the first round, Arauz needs to gain either a clear majority of over 50%, or win over 40% of the vote with a difference of at least 10 points with the next most popular candidate.”
The Canary report that, “Arauz has vowed to reverse economic and health turmoil in Ecuador by giving US $1,000 to one million of Ecuador’s poorest families. The socialist candidate’s key opponents are Guillermo Lasso and Yaku Pérez. Lasso is a banker who listed Margaret Thatcher “among his heroes”, while Pérez’s left-wing credentials are betrayed by his support for coups across the region and his willingness to prioritise trade deals with the US. The election has already been mired in controversy. Arauz was almost kept off the ballot, while the sitting administration used ‘lawfare’ to jail political opponents and prevent Correa from having a direct role in the process. Correa, however, is ever-present on the streets.” Why are the Brits so easily bullied into submission and ongoing suffering from far-right Tory Governments inflicting the exact same inhumane punishment and deprivation on our citizens.
According to the Canary, “There have also been early reports of voting irregularities. Officially accredited observers have reportedly been prevented from entering voting stations. Moreover, CEDATOS, the firm which will broadcast exit polls on Ecuador’s top TV network, has a history of corruption and it’s also linked to right-wing candidate Lasso. The popularity of sitting president Lenín Moreno, meanwhile, sits in single digits. Moreno was elected to follow in the path of Correa. But he swiftly diverted from this course by courting International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans and cosying up to the US government. Many Ecuadorians also lament Moreno’s betrayal of Julian Assange. This was after Moreno allowed British authorities to enter the country’s London embassy in April 2019 and arrest the WikiLeaks founder.” This abuse should have constituted a breach of international law.
“In September 2019, former Ecuadorian foreign minister Guillaume Long told The Canary: I think Lenin Moreno is a Shakespearean traitor in a number of ways. I really do. He betrayed Correa, he betrayed his party, he betrayed his electorate.” A Video entitled, “Ecuador’s historic election explained: Inside the Citizens’ Revolution” is available to watch Here on YouTube. In this documentary published by The Grayzone, Ecuadorians talk about regaining their ‘dignity’ after a period of economic and social decline: What happens in Ecuador today will have repercussions across the entire region.” There is a common thread among all of these corrosive interventions instigated by the US; they savagely attack and dismantle all Socialist Government policies that have protected and benefited ordinary citizens. They frequently create indebtedness to the International Monetary Fund who impose harsh conditions of austerity while benefiting the wealthy elite, and they empower US Corporations to exploit valuable natural resources.
An earlier people’s victory was featured in the Canary Article entitled, “Socialists claim major victory in Bolivia, one year after US-backed coup.” In October 2020 they reported, “Evo Morales’ party has claimed victory in Bolivia’s presidential election. Exit polls give the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) party over 50% of the vote. To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote, or 40% with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the second-placed candidate. The election was marked by tension after Morales was deposed in a US-backed coup in November 2019. Electoral monitors reported threats and harassment from Bolivian security forces. With a private quick count of sampled polling stations favouring MAS candidate Luis Arce by a wide margin, even unelected interim president Jeanine Áñez recognised that the socialist movement looked set to return to power.”
The Canary say that Áñez Tweeted, “I congratulate the winners and I ask them to govern thinking in Bolivia and in our democracy.” ‘We’ve recovered our democracy,’ former Bolivian President Evo Morales said, “in brief remarks from exile in Argentina. ‘Lucho [Arce] will be our president.’ ‘I think the Bolivian people want to retake the path we were on,’ Arce declared around midnight, surrounded by a small group of supporters. As Morales’ economy minister, Arce oversaw a surge in growth and reduction in poverty for more than a decade. But he would face an uphill battle to jumpstart growth this time. Though unelected, the Áñez regime accepted a $327mn loan from the IMF, to which austerity conditions will certainly be attached. Nonetheless, it would seem that Bolivia’s democracy has, for now, been restored.”
While the US claims to support democracy their foreign meddling proves the very opposite. It is now well documented that the US precipitated the coup that bought years of tyranny to Chile under the Pinochet regime. US intervention was outlined in an earlier Canary Article entitled, “Leaked emails suggest shocking US mercenary plot in Bolivia.” They say that, “Bombshell leaked communications indicate scores of US military and intelligence veterans have been secretly recruited for wide-ranging covert action of an indeterminate nature in Bolivia. The private correspondence, which has already been reported on by Morning Star, and which hasn’t yet been fully verified, doesn’t offer specific details of what’s to take place and when.” They say that, “it does make clear something significant, and highly sinister, is in the works in the country and apparently has been for some time, with around 1,500 mercenaries signed on to contracts of up to seven months for the operation.”
The Canary report that, “The deployment of these mercenaries was delayed by the elections being moved from 6 September to mid-October. This suggests that whatever’s to take place is intimately tied to the crunch vote. The vote itself has been precipitated by a US-backed coup in November 2019. Upon declaring herself Morales’ replacement, senate vice president Jeanine Añez – who believes indigenous Bolivians to be ‘satanic’ desert people, and ‘whose party received 4% of the vote share’ in the October 2019 election – ‘expelled hundreds of Cuban doctors’, broke off ‘ties to Venezuela and pulled Bolivia out of multiple international and intercontinental organizations and treaties’. In September 2020, the Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch said Añez’s interim government was ‘abusing the justice system to wage a politically motivated witch-hunt’ against Morales and his allies.” The US attempts to ferment a coup in Venezuela have failed, but they are still punishing its citizens with sanctions; when will this stop?
It seems that Brazil too could break free from the far-right oppression of their toxic leader, according to a Canary Article entited, “After years of incompetence and destruction, Brazil’s far-right president could finally face impeachment.” They say that, “Far-right Brazilian politician Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency has been on a downward spiral ever since he assumed office on 1 January 2019. As The Canary has previously reported, his presidency has seen a sustained assault on Brazil’s indigenous and LGBTQI+ communities as well as a targeted campaign against political opponents and social and trade union organizers. Now, Bolsonaro’s government seems on the verge of collapse as mass mobilizations calling for his impeachment have sprung up across the country and from across the political spectrum. Evidently, like other far-right faux populist figures, his handling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has been bumbling at best and homicidal at worst.”
The Canary report that, “As Brazil’s coronavirus deaths keep rising, Bolsonaro’s hold on power might be shortly reaching the end of its tether” as “Thousands take to the streets.” They say that, “On 23 January, thousands of Brazilians took part in demonstrations across the country calling for Bolsonaro’s impeachment. The mobilizations follow falling approval ratings for the beleaguered president over his government’s poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Growing opposition to Bolsonaro appears to come from across the political spectrum, with groups representing the right, left, and center organizing rival protests. The latter two launched rallies in over 20 of Brazil’s state capitals, including the major cities of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.”
The Canary report, “That same day, Brazil’s coronavirus death count reached 216,000. Brazil has the second-highest coronavirus-related mortality count in the world, after the US. This fits within a wider pattern as countries led by far-right faux populists such as Bolsonaro and Trump have tended to see much higher death tolls than those with progressive or moderate governments. Also like Trump, Bolsonaro initially downplayed the seriousness of the virus and even attended a rally in support of overturning his own government’s coronavirus restrictions. He and his government have also spread outlandish conspiracy theories and false information. Health minister Eduardo Pazuello, for example, promoted bogus treatments such as hydroxychloroquine while visiting Manaus in the Amazonas state. That region has been particularly hard hit, experiencing a devastating healthcare collapse including hospitals running out of oxygen and leaving dozens dead.”
In what they describe as, “A foul record of destruction and bigotry, the Canary claim to have, “consistently documented the extreme destructiveness and venality of the Bolsonaro government, as well as his long record of making offensive and incendiary remarks. His attacks on Brazil’s indigenous community have been particularly alarming. He has opened up large sections of indigenous land for exploitation by extractive and other corporate interests. Indigenous leaders in Brazil have described the move as amounting to ‘social extermination’ and even ‘genocide’. Bolsonaro himself once commented that ‘Brazilian cavalry wasn’t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated their Indians’. Withdrawing protection for these lands also threatens to accelerate deforestation and the climate crisis since the areas they occupy provide a bulwark against deforestation. His economic record, meanwhile, includes launching a fire sale of state assets at bargain basement prices and appointing the notorious ‘Chicago boy’ Paulo Guedes as economy minister.”
The Canary say, “Bolsonaro has also made numerous sexist and homophobic remarks, once stating that ‘If I see two men kissing in the street, I’ll hit them’. On another occasion, he told a female then-colleague of the Brazilian legislature that he ‘would never rape you because you don’t deserve it’. He has also praised Brazil’s murderous military dictatorship and expressed support for torture. Before getting elected, a document signed by activists including Noam Chomsky described Bolsonaro as a ‘fascist, racist, chauvinist and homophobic candidate, one who calls for violence and armed repression’. A lawyer who helped organize the protest in Belo Horizonte described the government’s coronavirus response as ‘dereliction of duty’ and condemned its ‘denialism towards the Covid pandemic’. Political journalist João Villaverde, meanwhile, said ‘We are now very, very close to the moment in which all the conditions exist for an impeachment process to happen’, adding that Bolsonaro has now committed multiple impeachable offenses.”
The Canary ask, is this “The beginning of the end? According to polling data, Bolsonaro’s approval ratings are currently hovering at just over 30%. Villaverde said that if they drop to 20%, impeachment will become a distinct possibility. Given that emergency government coronavirus benefit payments are scheduled to come to an end on 27 January, that drop could happen sooner rather than later. It’s looking increasingly likely that Bolsonaro’s brutal reign of incompetence and terror could be brought to an end just two years into his sordid presidency.” In another Canary Article entitled, “Bolsonaro’s brutal reign of terror has been laid bare in a documentary exposé,” Peter Bolton likens his conduct to the policy agenda of the Tories here in the UK. “The Canary has consistently reported on the multiple crimes and abuses of the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Now, a short but devastating documentary film has summarized his government’s lowest points.”
The Canary point out that the ongoing, “Disaster under Bolsonaro’s rule, has clear parallels with UK,” so the film is relevant to us. “The documentary was produced by Redfish media, which is a subsidiary of Russian-state broadcaster RT. The film highlights issues such as declining living standards, growing corporate exploitation, and rampant privatization as endemic to Bolsonaro’s rule. “It also points to multiple parallels between what’s happening in Brazil and the experience of the UK under austerity. For instance, the film features interviews with people collecting food at foodbanks, many of whom can’t pay their bills because of falling living standards. One resident of Brazil’s notorious favelas (urban slums with poor infrastructure), meanwhile, lamented that there’s been ‘no dialogue between Bolsonaro and the LGBT population, women, [or] black people’.” Why can’t the Brits show more courage and protest? Why are the British so passively accepting of every hardship inflicted on us by this corrupt Tory Sovereign Dictatorship?
The Canary hint at, “Possible US role in Bolsonaro’s rise following parliamentary coup. Several of the film’s interviewees described Bolsonaro’s government as fascistic. The producers point out that Bolsonaro rose to power off the back of a parliamentary coup against his predecessor Dilma Rousseff in 2016. This is despite the fact that under Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor Luiz Inácio da Silva (known colloquially as ‘Lula’), Brazil grew to become a global powerhouse, lifting millions out of poverty in the process. The documentary also points to a possible US role in preventing Lula from running for president during the election that Bolsonaro eventually won in 2018.” This is the same classic scenario where the US, self proclaimed global policing of democracy has actively intervened to instal tyrant autocratic dictators by sponsoring coups, then sabotaging and manipulating the electoral process. There was US money and far-right meddling in our Brexit referendum and probably in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election too.
“The Canary previously reported, a group of prosecutors conspired to have Lula imprisoned on trumped up corruption charges that were subsequently found to be politically motivated. Leaked files also show that the prosecutors had engaged in unethical activity such as phone-tapping and illegal collaboration with US officials. In a final insult, after the election the lead prosecutor Sergio Moro was appointed to a major post in Bolsonaro’s government.” They say, “Several interviewees also called out Bolsonaro’s penchant for privatization. A leader of the National Street Dwellers Movement, for instance, said that under Bolsonaro public services including healthcare are at risk of privatization. He added that he’s seen growing numbers of homeless people across the country.” They say that, “Others said that attacks on funding for education, and especially public universities, have been the key pillar of Bolsonaro’s privatization plans.”
The Canary highlight that, “Economist Esther Dweck said that this is all tied to Bolsonaro’s favoring of the private sector, which has entailed dismantling trade union bargaining power and implementing so-called flexible labor markets. Dweck added that far from leading to prosperity, Bolsonaro’s austerity policies have gone alongside a major recession.” This is such a frequently repeated consequence of neo-liberal austerity measures that you would think global economists would have caught on by now. Pathological liar Boris Johnson claims that he doesn’t like the term austerity so he has selected a reverse psychology approach akin to calling a lethal arsenal of warheads ‘Peacekeepers.’ The PM has convinced the Media to keep repeating his empty promise to ‘lev…up’ while he deceitfully hoovers up public funding to dispense among his donors and wealthy benefactors. Same plot, different name and the British people need to wise up, take to the streets in protest to Demand a full Investigation into his ongoing corruption.
The Canary describe, “The fascistic stage of neoliberalism,” suggesting that there are, “dark historical parallels. Historian Rejane Hoeveler, meanwhile, pointed out that the re-imposition of neoliberalism is linked to the rise of neofascism across the globe. She singled out ‘Chicago boy’ Paulo Guedes, who Bolsonaro appointed as his economy minister, for criticism. Hoeveler said Guedes has pushed for both austerity and privatization. She added that in 2019, Bolsonaro announced plans to ‘privatize at least 17 state firms’ including the postal service, the state electricity company, and subsidiaries of state oil company Petrobras. She also alluded to ominous similarities between what’s happening now in Brazil and what happened in Chile in the 1970s during the murderous Pinochet dictatorship. As The Canary has previously argued, Bolsonaro is a representation of how neoliberalism is now entering a fascistic phase in its development, which ironically feeds off its own failures.”
The Canary report, “Continuing devastation of the Amazon” is another very serious concern as, “The film also investigates the damage caused to the Amazon by Bolsonaro’s government. It says that US companies have been major investors in development projects in the Amazon region. This includes US agro-industrial giant Cargill Inc, which built a new processing plant near one of the most rapidly deforesting sections of the Amazon. Another notorious US corporation, Monsanto (now a subsidiary of Bayer), has also reaped benefits from Bolsonaro’s rule. A farmer from the Landless Workers’ Agrarian Reform Settlement said that the company is ‘directly in conflict with small family farmers’ in Brazil. The documentary notes that Bolsonaro has boasted: ‘the world increasingly relies on Brazil to feed itself’. Yet Brazil’s exports have come at a terrible price. In a cruel irony, Brazilians are increasingly going hungry at just the time that more and more food is being exported abroad.”
As The Canary previously reported, disaffection with Bolsonaro’s government is now reaching fever pitch. With mass mobilizations against his government taking place across the country, and with support from across the political spectrum, it looks like his days in office might be numbered.” They say that, “Redfish’s documentary could be one more catalyst to bring his sordid government to a premature end. Watch the Documentary in full here.” In Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is cracking down hard on the demonstrating students; in India irate farmers are persistent in their protests against Narendra Modi’s challenge to their livelihoods. In Belerus the protests have continued for months on end. In Myanmar protesters risk their lives in rebellion against the recent military coup. But, despite this Tory Government being criticized by the UN for their inhumane policies, with UNICEF stepping in to feed our kids and the Covid slaughter, the most the ‘winging poms’ can do is bemoan their fate! Who will save us if we lack the courage to save ourselves? DO NOT MOVE ON!